


The Yellow Dragon At The Centre

by thewriterey



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: Brief mention of the traumatic events of season 3, But I'd rather tag for too much than too little, But this is really a fix-it fic, Canon-Typical Sad Alucard, Canon-Typical Violence, Cars weren't invented yet so they're a bit slow, F/M, Fluff, Honestly what even is a "plot", Hurt/Comfort, It takes until chapter 5 for Trevor and Sypha to show up, Light Angst, M/M, Maybe I overestimated the M rating and the Violence rating, Multi, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed, So prepare for lots of, Some plot obviously but idk i just want hugs for alucard u feel me, Temporary Amnesia, he's been through enough, lots of talking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:48:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 69,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23190399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewriterey/pseuds/thewriterey
Summary: He can’t believe that he’s helping another human. Another full night of studying, and this time there isn’t even a threat on humanity. He’s only doing it because he likes the young woman who is currently sleeping in his bed. He thought he had learned not to do that anymore after… them. It hasn’t even been a month.That’s the real curse of having a doctor for a mother, Alucard thinks. There’s always someone else who he cannot refuse to help, even if he so desperately wanted to have nothing to do with it this time.He still feels incredibly conflicted. He needs time for many things, including figuring out how the fuck he feels right now. Too much has happened. He wants to remain isolated, wants to keep out any visitors, and a side of him revels in the two bodies on his front lawn, displayed to the entire world, and, perhaps most importantly, displayed to himself. They say: keep out! and I won! and don’t try anything on danger of death! For a moment he imagines this is what his father felt like all these years ago.However, at the same time he so desperately wants to not be alone. And he imagines that that, too, is exactly how his father felt right before his mother knocked on the doors of the old castle.
Relationships: Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Maria Renard, Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Trevor Belmont/Sypha Belnades
Comments: 82
Kudos: 80





	1. Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> I get that it's confusing right now, but please trust me when I say that it's going to all be clear by the end of the story. I've borrowed some characters and storylines from the games, but I haven't tagged them because they will remove some of the current confusion and I like the current confusion. :)

She sees the stars above her gliding by, then the trees, then the starlight.

There is a terrible source of pain at the right side of her torso, but any attempt to press her hands on it fails. Her arms feel heavy, her head feels like it’s going to burst, and it doesn’t feel like she would ever be able to move her arms again. She doesn’t know where she is, what to do, how to move.

And still the stars keep shooting by, she thinks, right before she blacks out.

There are vague images. She can’t tell whether they’re real or in her mind.

A castle – does she know it? Has she seen it before?

People on pikes. Vampires? Human? Hard to tell the difference.

A long entrance, stairs. Two golden eyes hovering above her, then darkness.

She’s trapped in a nightmare. Time. Eyes. Her parents – crying out, blood flowing. They scream, but she can’t tell what they’re saying. Another image. A castle. A tall man casting fireballs. _Dracula_. She should summon the spirits – she doesn’t know how. Fire is coming her way. She tries to run, but her legs won’t move. Where is her turtle spirit? The fire burns her arms, her legs, the right side of her body, all the way up to her head. Can’t think. Make it stop. Wake up, wake up!

_Please wake up._

Then there is ice. Her limbs are frozen, painful. Her head feels like it’s going to fall off. Dracula laughs. _I told you this world was no place for innocence as yours. All shall die, like your parents did. It’s futile to resist – just give in…_

She falls, and falls, and falls, and falls. There is nothing. The air is taken from her body. Can’t breathe. Must breathe. _Or you can stop, and this will all be over… Just let go…_

A whip hits her on the right side of her torso. _Richter._ The pain is strangely concentrated. _Don’t give up. Fight this, whatever it is. You were stronger than me before, and you have more power than I could ever wield. Just don’t give up._ He hits her again. The pain stays. Or did he hit her in her head? It’s hard to tell.

_Fight this._

_Richter is lost to us._ Alucard. She came to find him and here he is. There was something she needed to tell him… _I don’t believe that!_ No. That’s history. She already told him that, she _saved_ Richter. Or did he save her? Alucard draws his sword. He stabs her on the right side of her torso. _You’re hurting me!_ He pulls her hair, hard. Her entire brain feels numb. _Your cooking is terrible._ No. These events are unrelated. There was something she should tell him, now… _I should just find a coffin._ He turns away from her. _No, Alucard, please, stay…_

He is swallowed by the water. Where did the water come from?

 _Sleep. Don’t resist it. Let the water pull you down, down, down, further---_ The water engulfs her, ice-cold and painful. Her body is through. She can’t move, can’t breathe, can’t think. There is nothing to see but darkness.

_Wake up!_

She wakes up, alone. A thin layer of sweat is covering her forehead. Her head hurts, a dull pain that makes it difficult for her to think. She panics. The room is unfamiliar and cold. There are no windows, there is only a door. She tries to sit up, and fails. She tries again, and this time her body listens.

In a daze, she tries to take in the room. Several tables are pushed against the wall. They all contain some type of instrument. The chairs in the room are made of metal and when she looks down at her hands she sees that she is sitting on a metal table. On the tables around her there are metal instruments, and books with pictures of human bodies that are cut open. Farther away she can see a number of towels soaked in blood – her blood? A sharp pain is throbbing at her side. She bends over in pain and sobs. When she looks at her hands, they are soaked in blood. _Wake up!_

It’s not a dream or a nightmare. There is no chance of waking up.

Suddenly she hears a noise. _Danger_. Despite the terrible pain at her side and the fog in her mind, she stands up and walks towards the door. She grabs one of the metal instruments with a pointy end and grabs it so tight her knuckles turn white.

She enters the hallway. It’s dimly lit. Where should she go? Left or right, make a choice.

She freezes. In the dark, at the end of the hallway, red and green eyes are looking at her. She holds her breath, stumbles into the left of the corridor. She’s going as fast as she can manage, but her legs feel like they’re made of wood and they’re not doing what she wants them to do. _Please move!_

On the first intersection she turns left, the next right, and then another left. When she looks behind her, the eyes are following her, and catching up. There are teeth – shiny, white teeth, gnashing in the dark. They’re coming to get her – there is no escape. Another right. _Keep going. Just keep going._

Something stirs on the path in front of her. The first thing she sees is a pair of golden eyes, then the silhouette of a man, then, in the light of the lamps she can see his face. Fangs. A vampire.

“Stay away from me!” she says. She points the knife at him – it might be silver, but if this is a vampire, it gives her no protection, not in this state.

She can hear the beasts behind her, growling, snarling, catching up. They’re hungry, and they want her. She’s surrounded, there is no way out. Her heart is beating in her throat, echoing behind her ears.

On her right, there is a display of armour, mounted against the wall. _A spear._ She backs up against the wall, partly for strategic advantage, partly to steady herself, mostly because there is nothing else to do. When she looks at the vampire, she notices he isn’t coming closer. Is he afraid? Is he waiting for her to succumb, for an easy meal? _No matter._ The monsters that were behind her are still approaching. She turns her back on the vampire and points the spear in the general direction of the monsters. _“I said, stay away from me!”_ She’s trembling, only able to stand because of the sheer amount of adrenaline surging through her body. The monsters come closer, their red and green eyes hypnotizing.

“My lady, please,” she hears. The vampire. Is he trying to talk to her?

“Call off your monsters and I will talk to you, vampire.” She’s really not in a position to bargain. She can see them – smiling, baring their teeth.

“What monsters?”

She blinks. Twice, three times. She clenches the knife in her right hand until it hurts. When she looks into the hallway, the monsters have vanished. She takes a few deep breaths and turns around to face the vampire. He’s still standing where he was when she first saw him.

“Please drop the spear,” he tells her. Her eyes fixed on his, she slowly shakes her head. She knows she can’t take him, not in this state, but perhaps she can still bluff her way past him---

His eyes are gleaming in the lamp light. As she follows his gaze, she can tell that he’s looking at her right hand. _Shit. The blood._ She drops the knife and uses her now free hand to grab a firm hold of the spear. She points it at the vampire.

“You will let me pass,” she demands.

 _Mistake._ He takes a step closer to her.

“I’m not here to hurt you. You are bleeding, let me help you.”

The pain in her head is no longer a dull pain, and it’s coming in, like a big tsunami wave destroying the coast, crashing down on her. When she looks around, the monsters have returned. She’s surrounded. One of them claws her at the right side of her torso, and she cries out in pain. She drops the spear and clasps both her hands at her side. It’s hot and wet. Blood?

Why is she bleeding?

Why did the lamps stop working?

Her head hurts and she can’t feel her legs. It should scare her, probably, but there is nothing.

The last thing she feels before she passes out are two cold hands on her back, catching her as she falls, falls, falls.


	2. Acquaintances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your lovely comments! This is the first time I'm posting anything on AO3, so I'm still getting the hang of etiquette and formatting and all that, but I really appreciate the comments. It's a weird time to be alive, but the circumstances allowed me to write another chapter today, I hope you will like it! Stay safe everyone <3

Alucard sits in a chair next to his own bed. He didn’t think he would be back here so soon, but the other options were worse: his parents’ room or the guest rooms, where the smell of his most recent companions still lingers. The choice was easy. At least he had been able to scrub this room clean, but the shadows are still creeping everywhere. He closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath.

In his defence, he didn’t really want to bring the young woman back with him. It was an accident. He had just been going about his usual routine, gathering food as well as herbs for both cooking and cleaning, when he had heard their screams. He had no business going after those screams. He knew what he would be getting himself into if he were to step in and save the humans from whatever it was they were afraid of.

What he didn’t expect was that they _didn’t_ need him. At all.

He was just in time to see the young woman summon something that looked like, well, a phoenix, as it started to spew down fireballs on one of the two vampires that were attacking the group of humans. The vampire didn’t stand a chance. It was only after that, that the second vampire seemed to be furious. There is nothing as dangerous as an enraged vampire, and the woman seemed to realise that as she summoned _a fucking dragon_ to deal with the second vampire.

Unfortunately, the woman seemed to be very human and a vampire’s reflexes are still not something to be trifled with. With his own dhampir eyes, Alucard could see how the vampire dodged the dragon, and began to head for the man who was standing in front of a loaded wagon – a merchant? – defending two children with nothing but his bare hands. Alucard watched in silence as the vampire came closer, ready to jump in if they needed him, but the spellcasting woman had finally noticed that the vampire was on the move, and she redirected the dragon as she, herself, went and jumped in front of the man.

Not knowing whether the woman would be in time, Alucard emerged from the shadows and sent his sword towards the vampire, as the dragon swallowed the vampire whole. There was a flash of light, and then darkness.

For a moment, there was only confusion. Then the woman turned to look at the man, who was unharmed, then at Alucard’s sword, and then she followed the path it had come from. Alucard summoned his sword back to his hand and stared at her, worried she might have missed the fact that he was trying to help. He wasn’t sure what he could do against a _fucking dragon_ , after all.

Then she smiled at him.

“I’m so glad I found you,” she said.

That’s when the alarm bells went off and he should’ve left them alone, were it not for the fact that he smelled blood. He couldn’t place it, but it smelled _wrong_. She had taken her eyes off of him – a sign of trust? – and clasped both her hands at her side. A knife was situated in the right side of her torso, and apart from the blood that was slowly seeping out of her wound, dark circles appeared from where the knife had entered her body.

A gasp escaped her lungs as she fell down. The human man standing next to her seemed completely unable to grasp what had just happened, as he looked at the fallen lady in awe.

“Sebastian, do something!” he heard from the wagon. The man didn’t seem to be taking action. He, himself, stood frozen, too. Was he supposed to help? She said she was happy she had found him. Just like— _just like—_ he didn’t even want to say their names. He couldn’t go through that again. She might have been about to die, and he was going to let her. There was no use in fighting whatever that knife was doing to her anyway. He might’ve been able to deal with the wound, but the poison, or curse, or magic – she would have been dead before he could reach his castle anyway, so what would have been the point?

Then she turned her head at him, fear in her eyes.

“Please. Help me.”

Alucard opens his eyes and looks at her again. She’s breathing steadily now, but it had been a rough couple of days. He hasn’t slept, he’s exhausted, but then again he hasn’t really slept since--- it doesn’t matter. A little bit of blood goes a long way to cure tiredness.

By some miracle she had been able to fight off the poison. Well, that is to say, fight it off enough not to get killed. He hadn’t left her sight for three days in a row, continuously afraid that she might stop breathing again – which she had done, three times – but on the third day her condition seemed to have stabilized enough for him to get a change of clothes and some food.

He had heard the stirring in the medical room whilst he was in the kitchen, but he wasn’t prepared for her to actually get up and leave, not in that state. And when he had found her – she looked absolutely terrified.

Maybe it was the poison, or magic, from the knife. Over the course of the three days, a black substance had been making its way to her head. In hindsight, it might explain her talk of monsters the day before, as well as the fear. How does one go from _I’m so glad I’ve found you_ to _Stay away from me!_ in less than an hour of being conscious?

Still, it hurt when she called him a vampire.

She sighs. Alucard wakes up from his thoughts and looks at her again. He should probably keep his mouth closed when she wakes up on account of his fangs, he doesn’t want to scare her. He has no idea what she might do when scared – for one she might summon that dragon again and he’s far too tired to deal with that – but at the same time he doesn’t want her to get up too abruptly with regard to her stitches. Maybe the daylight is enough to help her realise that he isn’t a vampire, but that’s assuming she’s going to wake up soon. 

As much as he hates to admit it to himself, he’s curious about her. How was she able to summon such power, as human as she is? Is she a hunter, like Belmont? He had taken off one of her gloves to get a more accurate count of her heartbeat since it was so weak. He saw her hand – it was clean and delicate, not a fighter’s hand. An aristocrat maybe? But then why would she be dressed like – well, like that?

“You are so very beautiful. Are you an angel?”

Alucard blinks a few times before he realises where the sound is coming from. He looks at the woman in his bed. She’s smiling at him, eyes light and blonde hair flowing down her frame, albeit a bit dirty from the blood and dirt.

“I’m—what? No.” He’s completely taken back. A little flattered, sure, but somewhere in his stomach the panic starts building. _She’s far too nice,_ it tells him. _She will just tie you up and try to murder you in your sleep---_

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” she says. Her French sounds a little odd, but he can still understand her. If she’s speaking French, he was probably right about his guess that she’s an aristocrat. He’s still undecided about whether or not to trust his panic instincts.

“That’s… fine,” he says. He decides that it’s enough for now to just monitor her reaction carefully. It also helps that he has his sword leaning against the wall, reflecting some of the sunlight, and that he’s already established that he can probably outrun her, especially in this state.

He can see she’s scanning the room, but her expression remains blank. She frowns, and then rubs her forehead. “I don’t mean to be rude but… who are you? Where am I?”

He’s not sure how much he should tell her. “You’re in my bedroom, it’s okay, you’re safe,” he starts. “My name is Alucard, what is your name?”

“It’s nice to meet you, Alucard. My name is –” She stops and looks slightly puzzled. She continues, a little softer, “Nice to meet you, my name is –” She stops again. She looks at him, confused. “Oh. I seem to have forgotten my name.”

She looks at him, questions written all over her face, but he doesn’t quite know how to answer them. Is she lying, playing a part? If she is she’s very good, because he can’t detect an irregular heartbeat.

“It’s alright. Do you remember anything from last night?”

She looks around the room again, then at her hands, and she takes off her one remaining glove. She looks down at her feet and kicks off her shoes. “You’d think I would at least have remembered to take off my shoes before stepping into bed. Where are my manners.”

Alucard cringes. _That’s not what happened_ , he wants to say. He didn’t want to touch her any more than necessary because frankly, at the moment he doesn’t want anyone touching him. She pulls up her legs and starts stripping off her socks as well, and he looks away.

“It’s fine, really, don’t worry about it,” he says.

She groans, and as Alucard turns back to face her again, she is bent over in pain. Alarmed, he jumps up, wants to put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but he hesitates and decides against it. Instead, he sits down next to her on the bed and waits until she looks at him again. He can see the tears in her eyes. She looks down at her wound and her face turns white. “That’s not good. What happened?”

Alucard hesitates. “You were in a fight, and winning. But your opponent aimed at a defenceless man and you pushed him out of the way, but then you were wounded instead.” He’s careful not to use the word _vampire_ , afraid that it might scare her.

Her heartbeat increases slightly. “I don’t remember any of that.”

She’s looking around the room again, her eyes shifting more and more, her heartbeat higher and higher. He remembers his mother telling him that _when children start to cry and adults start to panic, it’s best to distract them_.

“What is the last thing you remember?” he asks.

She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “I don’t remember anything.” She looks lost and scared, and Alucard feels like he should comfort her but he doesn’t know how. What is there to do when someone panics?

“Try to… breathe slowly. It’s going to be alright.” She nods, and stares at the door at the far end of the room. Slowly her heartbeat comes back down again as they sit there together, just breathing.

This is strange. Not so much the fact that they are sitting here, in this room, together, but the fact that she doesn’t remember a thing. When he studies the black lines coming from her wound, he can see that they have gotten all the way to her head. In one of his mother’s books he has seen the effects of a lightning strike on a human’s body, and this looks very similar. The only difference is that the mark is black instead of white, like a regular scar would be. Furthermore, it seems almost… _alive_ , for the lack of a better word. The past three days the substance was covering the better part of her face, but somehow it seems like it has retreated a few inches since then. How very interesting. He couldn’t find anything in his mother’s medicine books, but there is still an entire library of his father’s books, as well as the entire Belmont clan’s knowledge of magical weapons. Perhaps they have seen something similar before.

“Okay. So you don’t know who I am either, right? Otherwise you would have told me by now,” she says. Alucard looks at her face again and smiles at her.

“That is a very logical assumption,” he says.

“Then, maybe, for the time being, I should pick a name. Just to make it a little easier to talk,” she says. Alucard can’t help but grin at that. So far, she has said nothing that even remotely points at her being scared. It’s all very practical, and clearly she has a bright mind, too.

“Do you have any preference for a name?” he asks.

She thinks for a moment. Then her face lights up. “How about… _Antoinette_. You know, like Marie Antoinette, the queen of France?” Alucard grins. _The queen of France. She’s not one for modesty, clearly._

“Antoinette. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Alucard says. “Now, let’s have some breakfast.”


	3. Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. This chapter got away from me. I wanted to originally post only half of it, but then I reconsidered and wrote the entire thing from our (not-so) mystery lady. I hope you enjoy it!

She can feel the sunlight streaming down on her face as she pulls up the sheets to cover her shoulders. The sun is nice, but it doesn’t give much warmth yet. The sheets are warm and soft, and she doesn’t want to wake up just yet. Her body feels tired even now, and something just feels… off. She feels a nagging pain at the right side of her torso, right under her waist. When she tries to remember how that happened, she draws a blank. Her head feels foggy, and when she tries to think it hurts. _No matter…_ Maybe she can just sleep a few more minutes.

She hears a knock at the door. She’s somewhat surprised, but at the same time she’s not. It’s a strange feeling. She wasn’t aware there was another person in the house she’s staying at, but it’s also not unexpected. She opens her eyes and sits up. She wasn’t expecting anything in particular, she’s not sure where she is, but the room she’s staying in feels more unfamiliar than it probably should. She tries to take it all in. The bed she’s staying in is huge. Far too big for one person, far too dramatic, too. But the sheets are nice – _shit, there’s blood on them._ What a shame.

There’s another knock at the door. The door is situated at the far end of the chamber, and it’s a proper wooden door, with knocker and all. The stone walls around it look massive, and from the bed she can’t properly see how high the ceiling is, but it’s high. There are a few odd chairs, a table, and some cabinets in the room, all tidied up. One of the windows is left slightly ajar and it sends a cold breeze into the room that makes her shiver, but it isn’t unwelcome. Scents of spring are coming in with the wind, and it makes her feel happy, despite all the uneasiness she probably should be feeling right now.

Another knock. Right, someone knocked.

“Come in,” she says.

The door opens, and in the doorframe stands a tall figure. As he comes closer, she tries her very hardest not to let her jaw drop and stare. The man has long, blonde hair and golden eyes. He’s wearing a white shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, with black leather pants. She’s certain she’s seen him before, but she can’t quite place him. He is ethereally beautiful, and were it not for the pain she feels, she would have been sure that she had died and gone to heaven.

He hands her a glass of water before he sits down in a chair next to the bed. She clasps the glass of water with both hands, but can’t bring herself to drink yet. She just stares at the man next to her bed in disbelief, as he smiles a careful smile at her. _That’s it, she has to say something._

“Surely you’re an angel. Please forgive me for staring, I can’t help it, you’re just so beautiful.”

His eyes widen for a moment, then he blushes, and then he grins.

“I am not an angel, but thank you for the compliment,” he says. “Although, doesn’t the Bible describe angels as terrifying?”

His voice is calm, collected. She takes a sip of her water as she tries to consider his words. She doesn’t remember ever having read the Bible, but at least she knows what the Bible is. Her head is not cooperating, but she feels safe and that seems important to her. She trusts the man, whoever he is. After all, he did knock before entering her room.

“What is your name?” she asks.

“My name is Adrian,” he says, his face turning serious.

“Adrian. I don’t think you’re terrifying, Adrian, if that is what I implied,” she says.

He smiles again. “I didn’t think you did,” Adrian says. “What is your name?”

She gets a hollow feeling in her stomach, and it’s unrelated to the pain in her side. Her name… She places the glass of water on the bedside table and looks at her hands. They don’t look like they aren’t her hands, but they also don’t look like they are. Her head hurts, her stomach feels uneasy and everything feels off, yet still she cannot place the feeling.

“I don’t remember,” she says, so softly that she’s almost certain he couldn’t have heard it.

“It’s okay,” he says. His voice sounds comforting, even if he doesn’t tell her what her name is. Perhaps he doesn’t know either, in which case he’s a stranger. But she’s certain she has seen him before, she just can’t figure out when and where.

“Do you have a mirror? Maybe I will remember when I see myself,” she says.

“A mirror?” Adrian says, a little too fast and a little too loud. Before she can ask about it, he gets up and walks to one of the cabinets. “I do have a mirror. I have a hand mirror for you, if you wish.”

Oh. Perhaps this isn’t her room after all.

“Where am I?” she asks. “Why did you respond like that?”

He stops in his tracks and places both of his hands on the cabinet, his back facing her. He stands there for a moment, and then turns around and looks at her with a thoughtful look.

“You’re in my father’s castle, my bedroom. Don’t worry, I’ve taken up residence in the library for now, you just seemed like you needed a proper bed.” He pauses for a moment, she can see he’s hesitating. “Not many European people have access to mirrors, I was just surprised you know about them, that’s all.”

“Oh. Okay. I didn’t know mirrors were a luxury,” she says. _But then again, she doesn’t know a lot of things right now._

He comes closer, holding a small disk. It has a beautiful design etched into the bronze on the back. When he hands it to her, she has to grab it with both hands. It’s fairly heavy. She glances at the face staring back at her, and the strange feeling in her stomach is back. As she looks into her own eyes, there is nothing that she recognizes. But her face doesn’t look unkind, and she would even go as far as to say her face is beautiful. And, unrelated to the mirror, even in this shapeless nightgown she can tell her cleavage is awesome, which, for some reason, is something she really cares about right now.

Only when she takes a second look she notices a black streak on her face. She remembers something _– there was a man in her village who was hit by lightning and survived. He had a scar that looked similar. What was his name again… what was her village? Was there a castle near her village?_

She puts down the mirror and looks back at Adrian. “I don’t remember my name,” she says. Admitting anything else feels like a defeat.

“What happened? My brain feels… foggy.”

“There was an attack on a merchant and his family. Night creatures. You fought them off, but you were injured in the process. The merchant said he didn’t really know you, either. I’ve been trying to heal you, but there was something nasty in that blade, and it will take time for me to figure out what it is.” _That must be where the wound in her side comes from, then_.

She carefully touches her side. It’s not bleeding anymore, but there is blood on her nightgown and the bed. The pain is dull but ever present. She can’t help but feel guilty for ruining the white bed sheets.

“I’m sorry, I seem to have gotten blood all over the bed. There’s no way this will wash out—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Adrian says. “Do you remember anything, anything at all from yesterday?”

“No, I—” Yesterday. A few images flash by. _Long, winding stairs and the sunlight outside slowly turning into the night. The stars appeared, the milky way was shining down on them before they went down towards the kitchen again for dinner – fish and tomatoes and rice – that was nice._

“We made lunch, and then dinner. I saw the sun set and the stars appear. It was very beautiful,” she says. _Another image flashes by. She sees Adrian, but he’s not Adrian. He insults her cooking, but he looks… different somehow, and so does the kitchen._

“Did you… insult my cooking?” she asks.

“Not that I remember. Is that what you remember?” Adrian looks almost offended. She shrugs.

“I can’t really make sense of it either, but at least I’m remembering something,” she says. She tries to think, she really tries, but it’s as if there is a fog in her brain, and the moment she takes even one step into it there are eyes lurking everywhere. Just like when— _oh._

“I think I had another nightmare last night,” she says. _With thousands of eyes, and monsters, and people she cares about but can’t seem to name, and drowning and crying and pain_ —but then she also remembers Adrian’s eyes and his hands on her shoulders, waking her up in the middle of the night.

“Thank you for pulling me out of it,” she says. “Surely you’re help sent from heaven. You’re an angel,” she jokes. At this, Adrian laughs. She silently counts that as a win, she likes it when people laugh.

“What would you like for breakfast? I will get it for you,” he says.

“Anything is fine, just get me whatever it is you were already going to make,” she says. “I would also like to take a bath, if that is at all possible.”

“You have lost a lot of blood,” he says, hesitantly. Judging from her wound that’s probably true, in which case it’s not very smart to take a bath at risk of fainting.

“Okay, you’re right. But I would like to clean up a bit before breakfast. Do you have some water and towels nearby?”

Adrian sighs and looks at her with a confused look on his face. “ _How…_ Of course you know why taking a bath is a bad idea after losing a lot of blood. Why am I not surprised.”

“Isn’t that common knowledge?” she asks. In any case, she would trade it if it meant she would remember her name. He combs his fingers through his hair as he makes an attempt to stand up.

“No, it’s not. No matter. I will bring you a bowl of hot water and some clean towels. I have also put some clean clothes on the chair in the corner that you might fit in, if you’d like to wear something that is not covered in blood.”

She decides not to think about it too much for now, and smiles. “Thank you, Adrian.”

She finds her own way to the kitchen. It’s not that she particularly remembers where it is, but the smell of freshly baked bread is enough to guide her there. As she enters the kitchen she catches a glimpse of Adrian pulling a loaf of bread out of the oven. It looks amazing.

She looks around the kitchen. She remembers being here yesterday, but very vaguely. Her eye lingers on two dolls in one of the cabinets. She narrows her eyes. She’s certain she’s seen the blue robes on someone before…

“Don’t… look at them,” Adrian says. She looks at him for a moment and then walks towards the table at the centre of the room. The table is set and there is enough food to feed at least a whole family. Or perhaps half a family, judging by how hungry she is. _Another sign of having lost a lot of blood_ , she thinks.

“You don’t have to do everything on your own, you know, I’d be happy to help,” she says as she sits down at the table.

“It’s not a problem,” Adrian says. She rolls her eyes at him. Somehow she knew he was going to say that.

“I guess I could wash the dishes, then,” she says as he sits down at the table, too. He takes up a knife and starts cutting the bread in slices.

“You’re my guest, you really don’t—”

She cuts him off quickly. “I know I don’t have to, but I want to. Let me make myself useful, okay?”

He pauses cutting the bread, and looks at her for a moment. Something is clearly going on in his mind, but although she can read that much in his expression, she can’t read his mind. “Okay,” he says, finally.

“Also… about those towels…” She left the towels in her room, neatly hanging on the back of a chair, but the towels were white and she used them to clean up some of the blood on her body. “Listen. I know you’re going to say ‘ _it’s fine’_ , or ‘ _don’t worry about it’_ , but in my defence, you knew I was trying to wash off some blood and you brought me white towels so, really, it’s your fault that they’re completely ruined,” she says.

Adrian looks like he’s about to start laughing and has a hard time of remaining his ever so neutral self. “I… wasn’t going to say anything,” he says.

She grins. She may not have her memory available for now, but at least she can still judge people’s reactions fairly well. She likes him. “Sure you weren’t,” she says.

Adrian places a slice of bread on her plate and gestures for her to eat. Without wasting much time, she tucks in.

“What may I call you today?” Adrian asks, as they are clearing up the table.

She shrugs. “I do remember that yesterday I settled on Antoinette.”

“Yes, you said she was the queen of France yesterday.” Adrian seems amused and, in all fairness, to choose the name of the queen of France might have been a little too ambitious of her, but it was either the first or the only name that popped up in her head back then. 

“I think today I prefer Annette, although I’m pretty sure that’s someone else’s name. I just… don’t know. If you just shout _hey you_ I will probably listen to that, too,” she says.

Adrian grins as he wraps the remainder of the loaf of bread in a tea towel. “I could never call a woman _hey you_. My parents would slap me on the back of my head and send me to my room,” he says. As soon as he says it, he looks like he’s just shared a most important secret, and then his face turns neutral again. She decides to ignore it.

“Hmmm. A gentleman after all,” she teases. He did say that this castle was his father’s, but it doesn’t seem like there is anyone else living here at the moment. Which is also strange, because she had gotten lost twice before she discovered the kitchen, following her sense of smell, and he had mentioned that he had slept in the library – but a castle as big as this one was sure to have more than one bedroom, so why would he be sleeping in the library?

Adrian clearly wasn’t telling her much about himself, but then again, she wasn’t telling him much about herself, either. Besides, she had forgotten most of their conversations from yesterday, so it made sense that he didn’t want to tell her everything three, four times – but she supposed there was something else to it. She had caught him staring into the distance a few times during breakfast, and even when he was smiling at her, somehow he seemed kinda… sad. Maybe it wasn’t her place to ask about it. Not yet, anyway.

“I don’t know if I should say this, but my father kept records of the royal houses of Europe. I looked it up last night, in the library. The current queen of France is Charlotte de Savoie, and I can’t find anyone named Marie-Antoinette.”

She sets down the empty carafe of milk on the countertop. “Really?” she asks. “A lot must have happened, then. I thought the French had gotten rid of the monarchy, and Marie-Antionette was the previous queen.”

Adrian closes a cabinet and leans on the counter as he looks at her incredulously. “….what?”

She turns back to the table and picks up the last napkin, and the table is cleared. “Yeah, it was a whole thing. I was glad to be in Wallachia at the time. All of the nobility got beheaded, people stormed the palace. Have you really not heard of this?”

He considers her words for a moment. “Hmmm… I admit I don’t necessarily follow human politics, but I’m fairly certain that didn’t happen,” he says.

“And I’m fairly certain that it did,” she says. They stare at each other for a moment. She’s certain this means something, but she can’t figure out what. She has no memory of someone named Charlotte de Savoie, and he clearly has no idea what she’s talking about. She could be wrong, of course, but this is one of the things she remembers clearly… well, clearly isn’t the right word, but it’s something she remembers. “Otherwise my nightmares were filled with the French monarchy, I don’t think I would lie awake from that,” she adds.

“That’s… odd,” he says.

“It is.” She can tell that Adrian is thinking very hard from the expression on his face. When she thinks, her head starts to hurt so she tries not to think about it too hard for now. If there’s something to be figured out here, she trusts Adrian to do it, he seems smart enough.

“I think you think you’re telling the truth. And I know that I’m telling the truth. I don’t think we can both be right,” he finally says.

“Hmmmm. Another mystery, then,” she says.

“Indeed.”

“Well. While you ponder on that, I’d like to go outside,” she says. The sunlight in the bedroom had felt wonderful, and although it had been cold when she was not covered by two layers of blankets, she is fairly certain she won’t be cold now. She’s wearing black leather pants that are buttoned up to her waist and slightly too big for her, and a red linen shirt tucked into the pants. The outfit is held together by a belt that she’s wrapped around her body three times. She suspects at least the pants are from Adrian when he was younger, and perhaps the shirt is, too. She doesn’t mind it. The clothes are very comfortable and warm. With either a cloak or a coat to match, she should be fine outside.

“Would you mind going to the tower instead?” Adrian asks.

She sighs. She thinks this is similar to a conversation they had yesterday. She can tell what he’s doing. He doesn’t want to go outside, so he’s suggesting something else. But she really wants to go, so…

“It’s not the same! I want to feel the grass under my feet.”

Adrian seems lost in thought once more, and doesn’t move. Slowly, she takes a step towards the door. This seems to alarm him.

“Uh… I need to clear the lawn,” he says, slightly panicky. Clearly, that’s not all it is.

“You don’t need to be ashamed of a dirty lawn,” she says.

He sighs as he puts his hands to his face. “No… it’s not that.”

Patiently she waits for him to continue. When he looks at her again, he looks as if he wishes she hadn’t brought it up.

“I… may have put up some unsavoury warning signs in front of the castle,” he finally says. Well, if that’s all…

“Unsavoury? I’m sure I can handle it,” she says.

“I’d rather you don’t see it.” Just how unsavoury are these warning signs?

“Hmmm. Well, this is a castle, isn’t it. Don’t you have a service entrance or an escape route?” she asks.

“No…” Well. It’s an _impasse_ , then. She supposes she could just try to walk outside, but frankly she isn’t sure she knows the way in this castle and she also isn’t sure where Adrian’s hospitality ends. Plus when she looks at him it seems to really bother him, somehow. She isn’t sure whether she wants to push the subject any further today.

“Okay. The tower it is, then,” she decides. Judging by his reaction, Adrian is relieved. Why would his front lawn be causing him so much distress? “But…” she sighs, as she sees he’s tensing up again. “Please consider clearing up your _warning signs_. I don’t want to stay inside forever.”

It takes them a long while to climb all the stairs. Adrian offers to carry her on multiple occasions, but she really doesn’t want him to. Something in her tells her that it’s like losing, and she doesn’t like losing. Interesting. _Learn something new about yourself everyday, right_?

When they finally reach the top she feels exhausted, but when she leans out of the window it’s worth it. The sun is shining and the fresh breeze of spring greets her. She closes her eyes and basks in the sunlight. It feels nice.

When she opens her eyes again, she can see Adrian standing next to her. He has also taken to looking out of the window. The wind blows through his long, blond hair, and he seems at peace, finally. But even so, still, she can feel the sadness radiating off of him. She’d hate to think how he got to be so sad, but she also doesn’t want to ask. She barely knows him, and it seems improper to ask when he so clearly doesn’t want to talk about it. 

“Does anything seem familiar?” Adrian asks, out of the blue.

She aims her gaze towards the great view of the outside again. “That bridge over there, maybe,” she says, after looking around for a bit. “But in my memory it’s much older, so probably not.”

“Hmmm. Maybe we should go to the village tomorrow. See if anything stands out. Although there isn’t much left of it, I’m afraid,” he says. 

“Why? What happened?”

“The creatures of the night. They were everywhere in Wallachia. They were summoned by my father.”

“Your father?”

“Yes.”

She doesn’t want to interfere, it seems like he’s finally talking to her. He has been mentioning his father every now and again, but she is none the wiser. As she waits for him to continue, it seems that he isn’t going to continue. It’s a shame she will probably have forgotten this tomorrow. This way she isn’t getting anywhere in getting to know him.

“Is there anything you remember? You were much quicker this morning and the black mark seems to disappear little by little. I think that’s a good sign,” Adrian says.

She sighs. Subject change, of course. “I remember nothing specific, no. Maybe you should ask me some questions and it’ll trick my mind into answering.”

He seems to consider this for a moment, and then asks her: “Opinion on garlic?”

“Weird question. I don’t think I eat it often enough to have an opinion on it.”

“What’s your zodiac sign?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. Ask me something else, something that might indicate where I’m from.”

“Alright. You speak French and one of the Uralic languages, but I can’t quite place either of them. _Sprechen Sie Deutsch?_ ”

Without thinking about it, she answers: “Ein bisschen.” Cool, another language to add to her list, that’s new.

“Habla español?”

“What?”

“Do you want to know what I think?”

_Finally_. “Yes.”

“I think you were probably raised at a court. You seem well-educated, your hands look like they’ve never had a day of hard work so you can’t be a peasant, and your skin is too pale for that, too. You also weren’t surprised by my hand mirror, which indicates you have seen something like it before, and there aren’t many Europeans who have. There isn’t much reason to learn an Uralic language unless you are either a merchant or live in the area. Which means you’re probably from around here, somewhere.”

It’s a long list of observations. She was right about him – he’s pretty smart. “Hmmmm. I can neither confirm nor deny it, but it sounds logical. Come on, ask me more questions.”

“What did your parents look like?”

_Wrong question. As she considers it, a thick fog appears in her mind and she feels a stinging pain in her forehead. She sees faces, but they’re burning. They’re dead and it’s her fault because she wasn’t there to save them—_

“Okay, I’m sorry, try to think of something else,” Adrian sounds alarmed.

“Please ask me another question,” she manages to say.

“Did you have any pets as a child?”

The pain doesn’t go away, but this memory seems nicer. “No, no pets, but I think I’ve attracted animals ever since I was a child.”

“What about your magic abilities?” he asks.

“I have magic abilities?” _That’s new. He didn’t feel like mentioning that before? How rude._

“Do you remember any of your friends?”

She rubs her forehead in hopes to assuage the pain. There are images. A strong young man and a beautiful young woman. _Annette_. “Yes. I remember Richter and his wife, Annette. She’s one of my best friends.”

“Do you remember either of them calling you by your name?”

She thinks for a very long time, but the fog in her mind is unbeatable. She then shakes her head. “It’s on the tip of my tongue, I’m positive I’ll know it soon.”

Adrian nods, and for the first time he reaches out to touch her – that is to say, he briefly touches her shoulder. It’s reassuring nonetheless. “Why did you choose Antoinette yesterday? Who is Marie-Antoinette?”

“I told you, she’s the queen of France! Or was. I’m confused about it now,” she answers. _Why this again?_

“Okay, then who’s the king of France?” he asks.

“Well, Louis the sixteenth, of course. Next question.”

There is no next question. Adrian looks at her with a very confused look on his face. 

“The… sixteenth,” he manages to bring out.

“Yes.”

They remain silent for a little while. She can see he studies her closely. She doesn’t like the look on his face, and she wishes he would speak what’s on his mind. Clearly he has thought of something, and she’s not in on it.

“Annette, what year do you think it is?” he speaks, finally.

“Well, 1802, of course.”

Judging by his reaction, it might not be 1802.

“Annette… I don’t know how to bring this to you. It’s 1476.”

The air turns faint for a moment, and she sits down on the floor in an attempt not to faint. _The fog in her brain hits her hard, swallows her, as she sees a grey figure standing in front of her. “I have chosen you as my champion before, and I need you to fix this issue as it’s happening now. There is a great enemy that must be defeated.” He’s holding a huge sword with a clock attached to it, and he’s wearing a monocle. His hair is grey, but he looks young, somehow._

“Oh. Well. Okay,” she says. She can feel a hand on her shoulder again. Adrian?

“Are you alright?” he asks.

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. My head hurts. I don’t think I like this anymore.” She pulls up her knees to her chest and rests her face on her knees. “How am I ever going to get back there? I must have a life there, friends, responsibilities. _What am I doing here_?”

_Say something. Please. Just… something. Anything._ “I do not have the answer to that,” she hears him say. She tries to take a few deep breaths, but it’s difficult. To make matters worse, Adrian pulls back his hand and gets up.

“Hold on one second,” he says, as he disappears in the general direction of the staircase. He isn’t gone for long. He’s much faster at climbing the stairs than she is, and he has returned with bread and water.

“Let’s eat something and make the descend. Maybe if we can figure out what the dagger did to you, you can get your memory back, perhaps that will help.” _How can one figure out what to do about fucking time travel?_

She nods and accepts the bread. Doing anything is better than living in this confusion. She didn’t mind it much at first, but now she knows more than she’d like to know about herself, and not enough to be at peace with it. Still, there isn’t much else to do than to take it one step at a time.


	4. Survival instinct

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um... another one that got away from me... 
> 
> Fair warning for anyone: this chapter touches on some of the things that happened in Season 3 Episode 9 & 10\. It was already in the tags, but I thought I would let you know again.

Alucard looks up from his pile of books as the sunlight streams in from the window. He has stayed in the library the entire night, trying to figure out whether the dagger has been described in one of his father’s books before, but thus far he cannot find it. For a moment he stares at the sunrise. It’s a conflicting sight to behold: it is beautiful as ever, but it also marks that he has been awake for another full twenty-four hours. He leans forward and closes his eyes, resting his head on the current book he is reading.

He can’t _believe_ that he’s helping another human. Another full night of studying, and this time there isn’t even a threat on humanity. He’s only doing it because he likes the young woman who is currently sleeping in his bed. He thought he had learned not to do that anymore after… them. Taka and Sumi. It hasn’t even been a month. _That’s the real curse of having a doctor for a mother,_ Alucard thinks. There’s always someone else who he cannot refuse to help, even if he so desperately wanted to have nothing to do with it this time.

He still feels incredibly conflicted. He needs time for many things, including figuring out how the _fuck_ he feels right now. Too much has happened. He wants to remain isolated, wants to keep out any visitors, and a side of him _revels_ in the two bodies on his front lawn, displayed to the entire world, and, perhaps most importantly, displayed to himself. They say: _keep out_ and _I won_ and _don’t try anything on danger of death_. For a moment he imagines this is what his father felt like all these years ago, and Alucard misses him deeply.

However, at the same time he so desperately wants to not be alone. And he imagines that that, too, is exactly how his father felt right before his mother knocked on the doors of the old castle. The pikes with skeletons on them from times long past were not enough to keep her out, and his father was a better man for it.

He likes Annette. She seems genuinely kind, she needs his help, and apparently she’s a time-traveller – _everything_ about that is interesting to him. But he’s afraid, too. He’s afraid that she’s going to stab him in the back, like Taka and Sumi did. He’s afraid that he won’t be able to defend himself against her. She can summon _dragons_ and he… well, he has a sword, he supposes. He can run and hide, but if she takes him by surprise, he’s lost.

But most of all he’s afraid that – no, he _knows_ _–_ that she’s going to leave him like Trevor and Sypha did. Granted, he understands why Sypha would want to return to her family and why Annette would want to, eventually, go back to her own time-period when she remembers how to do that, but it hurts nonetheless. He doesn’t want to be alone.

He misses his mother, he misses his father. If they were here they could probably offer him some advice on what he should do next. There is nothing he wouldn’t do to share just one more meal, one quiet evening in front of the hearth again. He just wants his mother to stroke his hair like she used to when he was a child. But that time has passed, and all that remains are the memories. 

Alucard sits up straight and looks at his arms. At least those scars have healed. The scar from his father may forever be with him, but the actions from the two humans a month ago have already been erased from his skin. There isn’t anything physical to remind him of what happened, and yet he still feels wrong whenever he gets even in the neighbourhood of thinking about that night. He wants to take a bath that will wash him clean of _everything_ even though there is nothing of them that still remains on his body. He doesn’t have the words for it. His own skin just feels _wrong_.

Alucard stares at the sun again. It has moved upwards a few inches since he last looked at it, but he wouldn’t be able to tell how much time has passed even if his life depended on it. He takes a deep breath and tries to focus his hearing on his own bedroom. It’s too far away to hear her breathe but he can’t hear her or anything in the room move and he assumes it means she is still asleep.

Somehow she had been able to distract him these past few days. First by almost dying a number of times, and it was good to have something to do by trying to prevent that – but then, when she woke up, she was just so… _innocent is the first word that comes to mind_ , he thinks _._ She was calm and logical and kind, far more calm and logical than he supposed he would be in her situation. And she had made him laugh on several occasions, which he hadn’t really thought was possible anymore after recent events. It was good to catch a break from the anger and the sadness and the confusion and all the other negative emotions he had been feeling these past few weeks.

It makes him uncomfortable when he thinks about how she had mentioned wanting to go outside in the past two days. He couldn’t blame her for that. His mother had always stressed the importance of sunlight when patients were recovering, and he couldn’t keep denying her that. She had very kindly dropped the subject the previous day, but he expects it to come up again soon. If she were to start walking off on her own accord, he isn’t sure what he would do. He could probably use force since it doesn’t seem like she remembers how to summon the dragon, but even the thought of using force on her makes him feel nauseous and wrong. _It’s what they—no. Stop. No time to think about that._

Alucard simply doesn’t know what to do. Since the option of forcibly keeping her inside is out of the question, there are only two other options available to him. He could leave his warning signs the way they are right now and risk either losing Annette because of it; or prompt a long list of questions from her relating to his warning signs; or he would have to deal with getting the bodies off the pikes and burying them. He doesn’t really want to have to deal with any of those situations.

He yawns. He has to drink some blood if he’s going to sustain an appropriate amount of energy throughout this day. He wants to sleep, he really does, but he has tried and there are only nightmares. He doesn’t know how Annette deals with it. She was screaming last night, actually screaming. He had ran towards her and woken her up, like the night before this one, and the night before that. And still she had gone back to sleep. It’s not like she had another option – she was human and recovering from a serious injury – but he admired her courage regardless.

He sits up straight and takes a last look at the book he was reading. Something about weapons crafted by vampiric societies in the time of the Egyptians. He hasn’t found the dagger yet, but there were similar weapons in this book, which is promising. _Some day in the future there might be an easier system of searching for what you’re looking for_ , he thinks. _A mechanical librarian that knows everything in every book and can just point you at the correct one in an instant_.

Alucard stands up and leaves the library. He takes a number of stairs down and ends up in the dungeons. His father had always kept an ample supply of human blood in metal cannisters mixed with an anti-coagulant to make sure the blood wouldn’t just clot before it was ready to be consumed. Much of the supply was gone after the castle had been occupied with his father’s vampire court, but there were still at least two massive cannisters left. Alucard has gotten used to the metallic taste of the blood, but he can’t say that he likes it. Even fresh animal blood tastes better than this processed human blood, but he supposes it will do. After all, what had the local wildlife ever done to upset him?

He drinks about a pint of blood, but the desired effect is less than he had hoped for. Another pint, and he feels almost normal again. But this is more than he’s used to having to drink at once. _Blood is no substitute for sleep…_ He thinks he might just keep going like this anyway until he collapses. _Two pints of blood in a day isn’t that much,_ Alucard thinks as he tries to convince himself everything is fine. The healthy human body has an average of ten pints of blood in it, he might have a little more for being tall. Still, there’s a nagging voice in the back of his head that tells him that humans typically don’t produce two pints of blood every day, not even close to it.

 _A problem for another day,_ he thinks, as he walks back up the stairs and heads outside to collect eggs for breakfast.

-

Alucard can hear that Annette is awake as he walks past her room on his way to the kitchen. Quickly he brings the eggs to the kitchen and returns to the doors of his room. He knocks.

“Come in,” she says. He opens the door and walks towards her. He can tell she’s staring at him, but in her eyes he can see that she’s thinking. That’s probably a good sign for her memory.

“I get the feeling I’ve said this before, and if I haven’t I’m an idiot, but you’re very beautiful,” Annette says. Alucard can feel his blood rise to his cheeks. _That’s what two pints of blood can do to you_ , he thinks. Maybe tomorrow he should consider drinking after their first meeting of the day.

“You might have mentioned it, yes,” he says. What, she isn’t going to call him an angel again? He had been a bit apprehensive of her compliments in the beginning, but now that she has forgotten part of the formula, he misses it, if only a little.

“Pardon me for being rude, but could you tell me your name again?” she asks.

“My name is Alucard,” he says.

“Nice to meet you, Adrian. _Excusez-moi_ , Alucard.” She looks at him suspiciously. “Hold on, yesterday you told me your name was Adrian.”

Alucard smiles. _She remembers! That’s a good sign_. “Excellent observation. What would you like me to call you today?”

Annette thinks for a while. She mumbles, almost inaudibly: “Nice to meet you, my name is…” After a few seconds of silence she shakes her head. “It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t quite get there. What did I decide on yesterday?” Before Alucard can say anything, she gestures at him to shut up. “No, don’t tell me. I’ll try to remember.”

A few seconds later she lets out an exasperated sigh. “Ugh. Yes, I remember. _Fucking time travel, man_.” She may look innocent enough, but she certainly curses like Belmont.

Suddenly Alucard can hear her heart rate increasing rapidly, and he leans towards her, slightly alarmed.

“I had that nightmare again,” she says softly.

She suddenly looks very small and fragile, and Alucard feels his heart break just a little. _But you can summon dragons,_ he wants to say. _You don’t have to fear a thing._

“Do you remember it?” Alucard asks instead.

Annette sighs. “Flashes. Images. No use in thinking about it now, I’m sure it’ll be here again soon enough.”

“I understand,” Alucard says. _Really, I do._ “It’s alright,” he says.

She nods and takes some time to wipe her hair out of her face. “You look tired,” she says. Alucard blinks a few times, unsure if he heard her correctly. He did. _How rude._

“I haven’t slept in a while,” Alucard says. The understatement makes it feel like he’s lying, but really, he doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Is it on account of me?” she asks.

As easy as it would be to lie, he doesn’t. He shakes his head. “No. It’s a long story.”

“I have time.”

Alucard is silent for a moment. He doesn’t want to talk about it, but simultaneously he wants nothing more than to trust her and tell her everything, because to deal with it by himself is foolish and it’s hurting him more than he realises. But he doesn’t trust her. _He can’t trust her_.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he says.

“Well then how are you ever going to solve it?” Annette retorts.

He can feel the muscles in his arms tense up, and he balls his hands into fists. “I will solve it, just not now.” It comes out with more of an edge to it than he wants it to.

“Right, because now you must suffer because you don’t want to deal with it.” Annette’s still talking, and, _beg your pardon? That’s rude to assume, even if it would be right which, frankly, it isn’t._

“No, I’m simply gathering my wits to deal with it later,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Right. How many more wits do you need to gather before you succumb and you can’t deal with it anymore?”

Somewhere in him something snaps and he’s done holding everything back.

“No, you listen to me here. I have my hands full. I’m still trying to remove the blood from the main hall, get rid of all the broken wine bottles and other stuff that’s left in the cellar, fix the library, get rid of the ruined tapestries and rugs and right now I’m also trying to make sure you don’t die. In case you hadn’t noticed, you are staying in Dracula’s castle and I am decidedly NOT an angel, my father was a vampire who killed many, many people. Many people have been murdered in this very castle here and I’m just— _TRYING_ – to… to _fix things_.”

He's breathing heavily as he tries to regain control. He purses his lips together in an attempt to _please stop talking, you idiot._ He’s said more than he wanted to say and in a way he didn’t want to say it. He tries to measure her response, but she seems calm and she’s still not scared. He didn’t mean to snap. Apparently he needs sleep more than he realises.

“Look,” her voice sounds soft. “I’m not saying that what you’re doing is wrong, or that you’re not trying. I’m just worried that you’re hurting yourself.” She completely ignores his outburst. What is wrong with her?

Alucard composes himself momentarily, but the annoyance doesn’t fade. How can she stay calm like that when he’s so… _frustrated_. He manages to push himself all the way to the back of his chair, grabbing onto the arm rests in an attempt to occupy his hands. He isn’t exactly sure what’s bothering him more: the fact that she isn’t afraid of him or the fact that he doesn’t want to admit there may be some truth to her words.

“Well, you certainly seem awfully okay with this entire situation,” Alucard says. “You have no memory, you are injured, I just told you that you are staying in a castle where many have recently been murdered, and that my father was Dracula and you didn’t even bat an eye at that.” Why isn’t she afraid of him? She called him an angel and she’s not afraid of him, despite the terrible things he has done.

_Don’t you dare say you trust me because you think I look nice._

_They looked nice._

_They weren’t._

He knows that he can’t just upfront say that.

“Well, I have no memory of anyone being called Dracula,” she says. Finally something of frustration marks her voice. She still doesn’t sound angry. Does he want her to be angry at him?

He cannot stop himself from asking. He has to know. “You only have my word to go on for many things. Doesn’t that frighten you?” What if he turned out to be the evil one, what if he were to just walk up to this room one day and walk in and put her down on the bed and restrain her—he is physically stronger and she has no memory of her power, he could just do it. Right now if he wanted to, she wouldn’t expect a thing, just like— _just like_ —he tries to ignore the images of that night that come flooding in and take over his vision.

“No, it doesn’t frighten me because I made a decision to trust you. Why do you keep insisting that I shouldn’t?” She sounds angry. Good.

It takes every inch of his self-restraint to not just shout at her. _Shouting people have already lost the fight,_ he hears his father say. “I’m half a vampire. I could have brought you in here to drink you dry later, and here you are, no memory, no… no weapons in this room to defend yourself with if I should attack you and you just… you just… How can you say you trust me?” Alucard doesn’t know whether he wants to start crying or just curl up in his bed and fall asleep at that very moment. He’s exhausted from arguing with her and the day has barely begun. He doesn’t even know why he keeps arguing, but he knows that he needs to know her reasoning because he doesn’t trust his own anymore.

“I don’t know,” Annette says. Alucard thinks she can read him like a book, because all of the anger and frustration from her voice are missing. He feels terrible for lashing out at her, when he feels that he really wants to lash out to someone else. He’s uncertain who, but it might be himself. He’s confused and tired and he just wants to sleep for a year. He hates feeling this way.

“It’s a feeling. Like I was meant to find you here,” Annette says.

Alucard looks up at her and feels the anger slowly dissipate. “A feeling,” he says. That’s just completely unhelpful.

“Yes! I may not have access to my memories, so instinct is all I’ve got to go on,” she says. 

“But… What if the feeling is wrong?” he asks. _He really is talking about himself, isn’t he_. “I’m still half a vampire, I need blood to live,” he adds, in a futile attempt to divert her attention away from his own issues.

Annette sighs. She looks at him for what seems like half of an eternity. “Well… if that’s your take on it, Adrian,” she says, “you should probably take a longer look at this mark that seems to be going all the way up to my brain and decide that maybe, for now, my body and therefore my blood is very likely to be poisoned, and decide whether that’s a risk you want to take.”

“I hadn’t considered that yet,” he says, quietly. It makes sense. Her blood had smelled wrong when he had been trying to close the wound a few days ago.

“Well? Is it a risk you want to take?” she asks.

“No, it isn’t,” Alucard says.

“Well, then. Stop saying that you might want to harm me. As you’ve pointed out before, I have no other option than to trust you for now. I’d very much like to do so without worrying whether you’re going to drink my blood or not.”

“I understand.”

She stares at him for a while, calculating. Perhaps he should apologize.

“Are you mad at me?” he asks instead.

“No,” she says. Her heartbeat remains steady, she’s telling the truth. Alucard lets out a sigh of relief. “Are you mad at me?”

He didn’t expect the question. “Why would I be mad at you?” he asks.

“For going on about the thing you don’t want to deal with right now,” she says.

“Hmmm.” He thinks for a moment. He’s more frustrated with himself for not dealing with it, not knowing how to deal with it, and in the process distrusting everything she says whilst he also so desperately wants to trust her and talk to her without having to think twice about everything he says. He fully expected her to bring it up one way or another, that is nothing new.

“No,” he says, and he means it.

“Okay good because I’m really hungry and I would like to go to the kitchen to make breakfast,” she says.

Alucard masks his smile by sighing very deeply. “I don’t mind making it for you, you know,” he says.

“Maybe so, but I like making it with you,” she says.

Alucard thinks about this for a moment. In hindsight, Taka and Sumi never offered to help with household duties. He never really blamed them for it, but at least with Trevor and Sypha he had an understanding that they were sharing the load together. Even his father was not above helping his mother prepare dinner, or caring for him in the nights when he was young and his mother was tired. Maybe (but just barely a _maybe_ ) Annette wanting to help him out with simple household chores like making breakfast and washing the dishes is a sign of sincerity.

Alucard smiles, even if he doesn’t really know why. “I’ll give you some time to get dressed whilst I bring a new bag of flour from the basement, does that sound good to you?”

“Yes, thank you,” she says.

Alucard stands up and walks towards the door. “Alucard, wait,” she says. He stops in his tracks and turns towards her, as she asks him: “What would you like me to call _you_ today?”

-

“Tell you what. I have a question for you. I know you don’t want me to look at them, but who is that woman? I get the feeling I know her.” Alucard follows her hand as she points at the two dolls sitting on the shelf of an open cabinet. _He should really store them away somewhere if he doesn’t want people to look at them._

“You know Sypha?” he asks.

“Well, not _know_ her, per se – but I’m pretty sure she once insulted my…” she sighs. “Well, my breasts.”

Alucard starts coughing and makes an effort not to look her for a moment. He’s very glad she’s wearing one of his old and very decent shirts and not the dress she had been wearing when he first saw her, as his shirt is fairly shapeless on her. _She can be so blunt._ He wouldn’t be surprised if she turned out to be a Belmont from the future.

“What?” she says.

Alucard holds up his hand for her to give him a moment while he’s trying to collect himself again. When he looks up at her again he’s trying _very_ hard not to look at anything but her face.

“Look, I’m just trying to remember things. This is what I remember. If it doesn’t make sense, I can’t really help it right now. I’m sure there is a logical explanation once I regain access to my memory,” she says.

“I understand,” he says, but he’s very far from understanding anything she says. His cheeks feel warm and he desperately hopes she will ignore it. “No, actually, I don’t understand. How can there be a logical explanation for that?”

She shrugs. “So. How about going outside today, hmm?”

Thinking about it is enough to make his muscles tense up. “I haven’t cleared up my lawn,” he says. It feels wrong to say it like that.

“Well, then I’ll help you with it,” Annette says.

“I don’t want you to,” Alucard says.

Annette opens her mouth to say something, then closes it again. She glares at him silently from across the table, clearly thinking of what to say next.

“So these… what did you call them. _Unsavoury lawn ornaments?_ Are they related to… whatever it is you are gathering your wits for to deal with later?”

There’s no point in lying. “Yes.”

“Hmmmm.”

In all fairness, he is reconsidering their placement. When he goes outside to collect food he’s reminded of them and that night constantly, but looking at them on pikes is at least somewhat soothing. He knows where they are. He knows they’re dead. _He won._

_Didn’t he?_

“What if I promise to close my eyes whilst we walk past the mess in the front yard?” Annette says.

“That’s not… _ugh_.” He had really hoped she would have been able to come up with something more eloquent. He holds her ability to reason in high esteem, but then again, he also just suspected her of being a Belmont and yes, this does sound like a solution à la Trevor.

“Fine. I’ll deal with it.” Alucard says. “But _ONLY_ that,” he warns her.

Annette smiles at him. “Thank you, Adrian.”

-

Clearing up the bodies is less uncomfortable than he’d initially thought. Alucard doesn’t really know what else to do but to quickly take out the spikes and put both of the bodies in a far corner behind the castle. He looks at their faces. Their eyes have gone dull, there is no life to be found in them. The smell alone is enough to stay away, Alucard thinks, and otherwise the flies will do it. For a moment he wonders how his father dealt with that.

As he lays the bodies in a pile of leaves at the far end of the castle, he takes one last look at them. Flashes from that night occur, but all he can see are their bodies, no trace of their souls to be found. _Let them rot_ , he thinks. He walks away.

He takes some time to gather his thoughts as he sits down on the stairs in front of the entrance. For a brief moment, the sun breaks through the clouds and a breeze touches his hair. The warmth of the sun is enough to remind him of his mother’s kiss on his forehead; the cool breeze sounds like his father’s deep laughter. He smiles as he remembers them for a moment. 

There is no point in dwelling on the past, he thinks, but remembering the good times every once in a while won’t hurt. Perhaps the good memories far outweigh the bad ones, even if the bad memories overshadow them sometimes. They will fade. Right now, there is someone in his father’s castle – no, his own castle – who wants to walk in the sunlight, and he would be happy to walk with her for a moment.

-

Annette doesn’t say anything as they walk for a while. Alucard likes to think she just _knows._ Like Sypha did when she took his hand after they had killed his father. Or even Trevor, when he refrained from his usual snide remarks about vampires and waved him goodbye rather than returning the middle finger.

He watches Annette as she takes off her shoes and walks a few paces sideways from him, along the path, in the grass. She wasn’t kidding when she said she wanted to feel the grass under her feet. As they enter the woods she puts on her shoes again. Alucard waits for her and notices a colony of rabbits appear from their warren as they approach Annette, who’s sitting in the grass. It’s a little weird. Rabbits tend to be scared of anything bigger than them – it’s their survival instinct. Annette notices, and she reaches out her hand to the biggest one, as it allows itself to be petted by her. As she stands up, the rabbits hop away, back into the forest.

They pass the bridge. Alucard can see the village in the distance, but judging from Annette’s heavy breathing it’s probably a bad idea to try to reach it. As they head back to the castle, they stop a few times along the way so she can catch her breath and drink some water. As they reach the stream closest to the castle, Alucard looks over to Annette behind him and sees how a small fox approaches her. It, too, allows itself to be petted by Annette, and he can see her smile. For a moment Alucard becomes paranoid and wonders if this is what she’s doing to him, too. He quickly waves away the thought. She had mentioned something about animals the previous day, and he is not an animal.

As they arrive back at the castle, Alucard realises he hasn’t spoken a word to her during the entire walk. He is grateful for the silence, but he feels he should say something.

“So, do you remember anything new? Like your name,” he asks.

“I remember there were too many stairs yesterday,” Annette says. Alucard flashes a look at her and he can tell she’s making a joke.

“Well, you wouldn’t let me carry you,” he replies.

“That was a solid choice, I stand by it. I don’t remember it, but I stand by it.”

She sighs, and as they reach the bottom of the stairs she sits down for a moment. Alucard sits down next to her and looks around. It really does feel better that he doesn’t have to pass the bodies on pikes anymore, even if there is still some dried blood on the ground. Perhaps he isn’t as much like his father as he thought he was.

They sit for a while as Annette catches her breath.

“Can I… say something?” she asks after a while. “If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine, I don’t mean to pry.”

“I told you I was only going to deal with the lawn today,” Alucard says. 

She nods. “Okay. Then I’ll save this for another time.”

As much as he appreciates that she drops it, he is curious about what she has to say. She was right about the pikes, perhaps this is something else he needs to hear.

“I want to hear what you have to say,” he says.

She looks him over for a moment, and then nods again. “I just… You… seem a little sad, sometimes,” she says. 

Alucard huffs. “Is it that obvious?”

She shrugs. “No. And sometimes, yes. It’s in your eyes, mostly.”

“Oh.” His eyes… He can’t do much to hide that. Maybe he shouldn’t.

“I think what I’m trying to say is… I can tell you’re struggling, and you’ve been so kind to me, I want to help you, too.”

Her words, however kind, make him feel uneasy. _You’ve been so alone. It’s time for your reward._ He balls his hands into fists, his muscles are tense and he can feel his breath hitching in his throat. He looks around, but he can’t find the bodies on the pikes. _Where are they?_ As he closes his eyes to think, he can see them standing in his doorway, but their faces are rotting. _You’ve been so alone. It’s time for your reward._ He feels a hand on his shoulder and he immediately pulls away as he opens his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he hears, and for the first time he can read some semblance of fear in Annette’s face. “I didn’t mean to-”

“No.” Alucard says. He knows. He knows she didn’t mean to elicit this, but he cannot tell her what happened. Had she arrived before Taka and Sumi, it might have been different. He feels nauseous and he cannot seem to get his breathing to calm down.

“Too much has happened. I know it’s not your fault, but I don’t trust you – I can’t trust you, even if I wanted to.” _By God he wants to._ “You’ll just end up stabbing me in the back like… like…” He’s trembling, and the words don’t come. He hides his face in his hands, tries to breathe calmly like his mother taught him, but his thoughts are racing and he feels like he’s going to pass out. He pulls up his knees and rests his head on them whilst he uses his hands to hide his face away from the world.

“It’s okay, just breathe,” he hears her say. “You have a vampire’s hearing, right? Just focus on my breath.”

He tries his hardest to find her breath in the cacophony of sounds that reach him. When he hears her, she’s breathing a little louder than he’s used to. Is she doing that for him? Why isn’t she touching him? He desperately wants her to touch him on his shoulder, stroke his hair, or rub his back—but he also doesn’t want her to. He just doesn’t know. He wants his mother more than anything in the world. He needs to hear her voice, but he can’t. When the tears finally break, it feels like a relief.

“Just breathe,” she says again. He follows her breathing: in, hold, out. In, hold, out. Again, again, again.

When he peeks at her from under his hair, he can see that she’s just sitting there, a few inches away from him, hand on her stomach. Strangely enough he can see a number of doves standing between them, on the stairs.

Slowly but surely he calms down. His breath hitches in his throat a few more times, but after a while he’s exhausted and all he wants to do is take a long warm bath and forget all about the world for a moment.

“I’m sorry this has happened to you,” he hears Annette say. He fights the urge to start crying again. _You’ve lost your memories and are stuck in a time period that isn’t your own, why are you sorry for me?_

“I understand you don’t want to talk about it to me. Is there someone you do trust?”

Sypha… Trevor. Would they come if he asked them? He doesn’t want to find out if the answer is no.

“They’re travelling, I don’t know where they are,” he says.

“Oh.”

He hesitates for a moment. She had been right before. He assumes she means well, and this option gives him a way to deal with what he should be dealing with without relying on her. And, in all fairness, he hadn’t thought about it before. Would Sypha be willing to leave her family for him, again?

The act of considering these options has calmed him down. He makes a decision. “I do have a magic mirror that can probably find them,” he says.

“I do like a good magic mirror,” Annette says excitedly. Alucard laughs despite his tears. He wipes his face clean as he looks up. Annette is looking at him, but she seems more worried than anything else.

“I’m sure they’re around much in 1802,” he says. She laughs at that. He likes to hear her laugh.

As he stands up he steps closer, scaring away some of the doves, and he offers her his hand. She accepts it and uses it to stand up next to him.

“Come, let me show you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay now this beast is out of the way: Trevor and Sypha!!!!!!!! In the next chapter!!!!!!!! I'm excited :D


	5. Short Message Service

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy chapter! :3

Being outside was nice. There are now two doves sitting on either side of her shoulders. She has no idea how to tell them to fly away, but their presence is calming, like a piece is fitting back in its place. It probably is, she just can’t quite pinpoint what piece it is yet.

Adrian opens the doors for her. It looks like it doesn’t take any effort at all, but then again he has the strength of a vampire. She wonders if he would have closed the doors for her if she had tried to walk out when he was still worried about his front lawn, especially since his confession a few moments ago.

He doesn’t trust her.

She supposes that explains their conversation earlier this morning. It hurts a little, but she has a feeling it has less to do with her than it has to do with whatever happened here. Even though he is wearing a shirt that covers most of his upper body, she has seen the scar on his chest. For something to scar a vampire, even if he’s only half of one, it must have been pretty bad. The more she learns about him the more she thinks something truly awful has happened.

Yet even after all of that, trust issues aside, he chooses to be kind to her. If that means anything at all, it’s that he’s kind and that he’s trying his best to deal with an awful situation.

She doesn’t really know how to deal with her own memory problems and his problems at the same time, and she feels bad about bringing it all up this morning. Her first instinct when dealing with something awful, like these memory issues, is to talk about it. He doesn’t seem to do the same thing. Perhaps he was right not to, maybe the wound was still too fresh. And when she touched his shoulder he reacted badly. It scared her. She thinks that, maybe for now, she shouldn’t initiate physical contact of any kind, if this is how he responds to a hand on his shoulder. She can wait until he initiates it.

Like how he offered her his hand after all of that.

She’s tired from walking for so long, and it takes her a little longer than usual to climb up the stairs, but she manages. When she enters the main hall, her stomach drops. _More stairs._

“How many more staircases until we reach this magic mirror of yours?” she asks, partially as a joke to lift the mood, but mostly serious.

“My father’s study is on the third floor,” he says.

She takes a deep breath. “Okay.”

Adrian frowns at her. “You know I can very easily carry you, right,” he says.

She knows that. If it weren’t for the wound and the black mark and the blood loss, she would have no problem with these stairs. _For a moment she sees the laughing face of Richter again. He_ used to pick her up and carry her around a lot when she was a kid, she remembers. She didn’t like it then, either. But that’s what big brothers do, she supposes.

“I’m… fine, really,” she says. 

“You talk to me about finding help and yet you won’t accept any for yourself. Think about the example you’re setting for me,” he says. Is he teasing her? She glares at Adrian. What bothers her the most about that statement is that he’s absolutely right.

“I don’t like being carried, it makes me feel like a helpless little kid, and I’m not.”

“A little kid? How old are you?” he asks.

She remembers being born in 1780, and she thought the year was 1802. “Probably 22,” she says. _Maybe 21, but she cannot remember whether or not she celebrated her birthday yet._

“I’m only 19. No need to feel like a little kid,” he says, and – she didn’t expect that.

“You’re a _teenager?!_ ” she asks.

“What’s wrong with that?” he asks, bewildered.

“Nothing,” she says. "I just assumed you were like, 300 years old or something. Turns out I’m older than you are!” She is delighted with this piece of information.

She smirks at Adrian. He’s clearly thinking for a moment. “I don’t think I like where this conversation is going,” he says.

She can’t stop smiling. “How about I will never mention it again if you carry me now and never mention that again?”

“Deal.” He’s standing next to her very suddenly, and the doves on her shoulders fly away in a reflex of self-preservation. He lifts her up in his arms and within a few seconds they arrive at, what she supposes is, the door to the study.

As she tries to stand back on her own feet, she feels a little dizzy. “Thanks,” she says. Adrian is smirking.

“Thanks for what?” he says, all innocent.

She punches him in the arm. It probably hurts her hand more than it hurts his arm. “For carrying me up the stairs, alright,” she says. A little too late she realises she broke her resolve to not touch him. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to mind this time.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he says, clearly joking.

She starts to laugh. He really meant it when he said he would never mention it again. “Alright, not bad for a 300 year old man,” she admits.

He considers this for a moment. “I think I prefer being called a teenager over that,” he says.

She shrugs. “Well, why don’t you decide on that whilst you show me this magic mirror, huh?”

He nods. He pushes the door open and makes an ‘after you’ gesture.

-

The room is dark and messy. She wonders why he doesn’t have any qualms about showing her this room after being so adamant on keeping the front lawn off limits. It can’t have been worse than this, he was only gone for an hour or so to clean up the lawn. This, however, this would take days. She decides not to mention it. There have been enough difficult conversations this day.

She can’t see a mirror, either. Adrian opens the curtains and then throws a pile of books on the floor from the chair they were stacked in. He motions for her to sit down, and she does. Then he takes a piece of glass from the floor. He whispers a few words, and suddenly there are pieces of glass coming from everywhere around the room as they band together to form an enormous mirror. She can see the surprise on her own face as she looks in the mirror.

“That was amazing!” She’s seriously impressed.

She can see Adrian smile at her for a moment. He takes a step closer to the mirror and starts to write glyphs on it in a language she cannot identify. When he’s finished he steps back, and the image in the mirror changes. Forests and rivers and mountains fly by – and it lands on a small horse-drawn carriage. On it, two people.

She recognizes Sypha. She clearly remembers talking to her and… _fighting her. Huh. That’s new._ Somehow she doesn’t feel like that’s information to share right now, especially since Adrian probably trusts Sypha over her. Still, she doesn’t feel any ill intent towards Sypha. She tells herself it will make sense soon.

The man sitting next to her must be Trevor. She can see the resemblance with the doll in the kitchen, and she masques her laugh with a cough. Then she sees something she recognizes. She stands up and walks towards the mirror to get a closer look. The crest on his shirt. It’s the same as Richter’s. Are they related?

“Careful, this mirror allows for matter to pass through it. Don’t fall in,” she hears Adrian say. She quickly takes a step back.

“I’m very impressed with your magic mirror,” she says. “Feels a bit wrong to spy on them like this though,” she adds. “What is it you were planning to do?”

“Matter can pass through,” Adrian repeats. “I thought I would write them a letter.”

“You know, you’re pretty smart for a teenager,” she says. Adrian shoots her an indignant look.

“Hey,” he says. Followed by: “Have I ever mentioned how I _carried you for a few miles_ that one time when you got stabbed?”

She doesn’t exactly know why, but that’s the moment she knows for certain he didn’t mean it personally when he said he didn’t trust her. “ _Touché_ ,” she says, granting him the victory here for now.

Adrian grabs a piece of paper and writes down a few words on it. It’s not a long letter, but it seems long enough. His words on the paper have long, lavish strokes to them. She hardly expected anything else from him. When he is done writing, he folds the letter in half and walks towards the mirror. He commands the mirror once more, and its view shifts to a few yards in front of the carriage.

“Alright. Here it goes.” He drops the letter on a spot on the ground in front of the cart.

There is no reaction from either Sypha or Trevor. The carriage keeps moving, the horses trample the letter.

She looks at Adrian with the slightest hint of concern. “They didn’t notice,” she says.

“No…”

Adrian looks at the carriage, at the two people sitting in it. She can tell he’s thinking.

“Do you want to try again?” she asks.

“Yes, hold on.” He quickly writes another letter, this time the words are written down with less grace and elegance. It reads: “Dear Sypha – Trevor. I was wondering how you were doing. Where are you headed? Would you consider coming back to my castle? Yours, Adrian.”

“It’s a bit short,” she says.

“Well, they might miss it again,” Adrian says, as he folds it into a paper bird with big wings.

“Here goes.” He sends off the paper bird through the mirror, and it flies away. It’s headed straight for the carriage, but changes course at the last second when a gust of wind swoops up the paper bird. Sypha and Trevor don’t notice the letter this time either. Adrian sighs and buries his face in his hands for a few moments before looking up again.

“Maybe you could attach the letter to something bigger,” she suggests.

“Like what, a brick? One slip-up and I might accidentally kill them,” Adrian says.

“Hmmm, no, I was thinking maybe something like part of a tree or plant, and if you drop it a few yards before them, they will notice it and also the letter.”

Adrian seems to consider this possibility for a moment. “I’m not bringing tree branches into my father’s study. It’s already a mess,” he says. _Yeah, no kidding._

“Well, what about…” she looks around the room. “What about a chair then?”

Adrian looks at the chair she has been eyeing and shakes his head. “No, I prefer to preserve the chairs I have currently. There is however an object I’ve been meaning to get rid of, hold on,” he says. A few moments later he has vanished.

She decides she might as well make herself useful and writes the same letter as Adrian just wrote, signs it, and folds it twice.

Adrian enters the study again, and he’s carrying with him a full suit of armour, mounted on a mannequin. She has seen them standing around in the hallways here and there, but when it dawns on her that this is the object he means to get rid of, she protests.

“You can’t just put that on the road! That’s a waste!”

“Sure I can,” he retorts. “I’ve never liked them, and they’re mine now. I can do with them whatever I please.”

“Adrian, no—” He takes the letter that she has been holding and puts it in the glove of the metal knight. She sighs loudly and shakes her head. Fine, it’s his choice.

“This will surely grab their attention.” Adrian drops the mannequin a few meters in front of the carriage, and suddenly a few things are happening at once.

“JESUS CHRIST WHAT THE FUCK—” Trevor instantly halts the horses. Sypha jumps up and sprays a wall of deadly ice spikes on the metal knight instantly, obliterating the letter in the process.

Safe to say, the metal knight caught their attention. It still doesn’t have the desired effect, though. She takes a careful look at Adrian, who rests his head on a bookcase nearby. She tries to stifle a laugh because frankly the whole situation is hilarious.

“So…” she starts, not even intent on saying anything other than that.

“Don’t say it,” Adrian says.

“Would you like me to write _another_ letter?” she asks sweetly, trying her very hardest to sound sincere.

“Yes please. I’m going to get another suit of armour.” He disappears again.

She can see how Sypha and Trevor dismount from their carriage and investigate the statue. In addition to the letter, she decides to write another note. It says: ‘DO NOT BE AFRAID’ in big letters. They will surely see that much, even if Sypha decides to pierce it with ice spikes again.

When Adrian returns with another suit of armour, she signs the fourth letter and places it in the hand of the knight. She places the ‘DO NOT BE AFRAID’ message in the visor of its helmet.

Adrian sends the metal knight through the mirror, but the results aren’t too different from the first attempt. Sypha’s reflexes are fast, and the second knight undergoes a sea of magic flames, burning both the letter and the ‘DO NOT BE AFRAID’ sign to a crisp whilst Trevor curses up a storm.

Adrian sighs and hides his face in his hands once more. Somehow his dramatic display of disappointment only adds to the hilarity of the situation. Her stomach hurts from laughing so much.

“You know, there really should be a more efficient way to send messages,” Adrian mumbles, half defeated.

He grabs a piece of paper, writes something very short on it, crumples it into a ball, and straight up throws it into the mirror. Finally it arrives to its destination as it hits Trevor in the forehead.

“Son of a—” Trevor curses.

“Oh! It’s a piece of paper!” Sypha says. Quickly she opens it and reads it. “I’m trying to send you a letter but you’re making this really hard – signed by Adrian,” she reads.

“Alucard? Did you send those two armour displays?” Trevor asks.

Adrian quickly goes back to the table, writes another letter, and throws it at the mirror again. Trevor is the unlucky receiver of the letter once more. 

“Hey asshole, can you at least _try_ to aim elsewhere?” Trevor says, grumpy.

She can see Adrian smirk, which leads her to believe he threw the piece of paper exactly where he wanted to.

Sypha grabs the piece of paper and reads: “Yes I did, I was trying to get your attention. You may assume I can see and hear you.” Upon hearing this, Trevor immediately extends his middle finger into mid-air. 

“Trevor!” Sypha says.

“What, he was asking for it,” Trevor says.

Sypha shakes her head at him. “You have our attention. What is so urgent?” she asks.

Adrian looks at the mirror, he seems to be reflecting on the question for a moment. “I don’t actually know how to answer that,” Adrian says.

“Would you like me to write something?” she asks. Adrian frowns momentarily, then nods.

She walks over to the desk, takes another piece of paper, and writes: “Dear Sypha and Trevor, I would very much like to meet you. I fear there is a great danger afoot, for the Gods have planted a time traveller on the castle’s doorstep. I need your help to figure this out. I hope you are not too far away, and are able to come to the castle so I might talk to you in person.”

There. Urgent and mysterious, without revealing anything of how much Adrian needs their help. He should tell them that himself.

“Why do you write like that?” Adrian asks.

“Like what?” she asks.

“So formal.”

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do with letters?”

Adrian shrugs.

“Do you approve of the message, my liege?” she asks. Adrian rolls her eyes at her. “What’s with the ‘great danger afoot’?”

She thought he might ask that. _The grey figure flashes by in her mind once again, but there is no new information other than the warning she already remembered yesterday._ She has an answer for Adrian, but she isn’t sure he will like it.

“Oh, yeah, well… I figured. If I came all the way here from 1802, there must be a reason for it. I just don’t know the reason now. I’m just assuming… since you caught me fighting vampires, and you yourself are so knowledgeable on this topic, too, it can’t be anything good.”

“Hmmmm,” Adrian says. There is a silence between them for a few moments. It is broken by Trevor, on the other side of the mirror.

“Do you think he’s heard what we were talking out last night?” Trevor asks. He uses a hushed voice, but they can both still hear it.

“Shhh, not now, Treffy,” Sypha says.

Adrian nods at her. “Okay, I like this letter. Shall I throw it again?”

She shakes her head. “No, wait, I have a better idea.” She concentrates very deeply and thinks about the doves that were on her shoulders a few minutes ago. Some moments later, the doves appear in the door. They fly towards her and land on her shoulders. Adrian seems surprised and tilts his head when he looks at her.

“Much better than an empty set of armour, ey?” she says proudly.

She signs the letter, then gives it to one of the doves. The dove takes the letter in its beak, and as she directs her hand at the mirror, the dove flies through it. The dove emerges on the other side of the mirror and lands on Sypha’s shoulder.

“Right, we all know who’s your favourite, no need to rub it in,” Trevor says.

Adrian sends a dirty look towards the mirror. “I can just throw another piece of paper at you, so you feel included. It’s not an issue,” he says. _He can’t hear you, you idiot. Either do it or tell him in person, she thinks._

Sypha takes the letter from the dove, and as she reads it Trevor reads with her over her shoulder.

“Who is Maria Renard?” he asks.

Her eyes open wide and for a moment her mind is blank. She stares at the mirror in shock. _What did he say?_ She blinks a few times, unsure of what to think. It comes back to her. _That’s her name!_

“Maria?” Adrian asks as he looks at her.

“That’s my name!” Maria says, stupefied. “How does he know that?”

Adrian is already writing another note. He doesn’t wait for her to command the other dove and throws it directly at Trevor’s head once more. 

“WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT—” he yells. He picks up the letter with a sour face and reads it out loud.

“No,” the letter says. If looks could kill, Adrian would be long dead by now. Maria can see him smirk at the mirror. Trevor silently reads the rest of the note.

“How do I know that name? Uh, because she signed it in the other letter, you dumbass,” he says.

“Huh. Interesting,” Adrian says. “An automated movement such as signing a letter may have been stored in your muscle memory when your general memory was unavailable.”

Maria blinks, still a bit shaken from relearning her own name. “I have no idea what you just said, but I know my name again!” How could she ever forget it? No matter—she knows it now! She can’t stop smiling.

“Alucard, we are already close to the castle. We are on our way, it might take two more days or so. Can you send us another note so we know you’ve heard us?”

Maria stops Adrian as he is close to crumbling yet another piece of paper. She gives it to the second dove and sends it after its friend. “There, that’s a far more eloquent short message service.”

Adrian waves her comment away, and looks amused as Trevor has taken precautions and stands behind Sypha this time. As soon as the dove passes through the mirror, Sypha reaches out her hand and the dove lands on it, giving her time to accept the letter.

“I have heard you. I’m glad you seem to be doing well. I will see you soon. Best, Adrian.”

“No spying on us in the meantime,” Trevor says to thin air, still standing behind Sypha.

Adrian writes something down, looks at Maria for a moment, and says: “I have to do this,” in a very serious tone of voice. He vanishes for a moment, and Maria wonders what he means by that, when he arrives back in the study with another mounted set of armour.

Maria starts laughing and she catches a smile from Adrian as well. He attaches the letter to the metal hand of the knight, and sends it through the mirror. As it comes crashing down on the path, Trevor curses like a sailor. Sypha bursts into laughter and takes the letter from the knight. 

It reads: “Okay, bye for now.”

-

Maria is putting away the dishes after dinner whilst Adrian is closing the front doors of the castle for the night. What a day this has been, she thinks. _Maria, Maria, Maria Renard._ She wrote it down after Adrian had closed the mirror, just in case, for if she were to forget it again the next day. She didn’t know she missed the sound of her own name that much until she heard it again. Adrian seemed happier today, too, after the horrible mess this morning. She likes to think she had a hand in that. 

She stands on a stool to put back the wine glasses on one of the high shelves in the cupboard.

“Maria,” Adrian says.

She looks at him as he stands in the doorway. He looks tired, but there is a careful smile on his face. He walks towards her. Maria closes the cabinet door, but before she can ascend the stool she can feel his arms wrapping around her waist as he rests his head below hers. He hugs her tight and doesn’t let her go. She combs her fingers through his hair softly, without saying a word. _This is nice_ , she thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alucard’s to-do list: 
> 
> \- Clear up lawn (check)  
> \- Invite Sypha and Trevor over (check)  
> \- Find out Maria’s name (check, it’s Maria)  
> \- Ask for a hug (check)  
> \- Find out about the poisoned/magical dagger (working on it)  
> \- Go the fuck to sleep (……………...procrastinate indefinitely)
> 
> \-----
> 
> I'm very happy that I can finally write Maria's name, and that Adrian asked for a hug, and that Trevor and Sypha are close to the castle. I need a little bit of time to figure out where I want to go from here on out, but if this turns into a hiatus for maybe a week or two, at least it will be on a happy note :D


	6. Lonely Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Between that one youtube video of all different versions of "Bloody Tears" and Santana's "Maria Maria" playing on repeat in my head, it's a miracle I'm getting anything done at all. This chapter contains violence, but nothing other than has already appeared in the Netflix show. (Sorry I just don't know if I'm tagging correctly, I thought I would just add this here as an additional warning...) But. Yay, Sypha and Trevor! 
> 
> I hope you're having a good Easter / Pesach !

The sun is beating down on the covered wagon as it travels over a bumpy track. The road is long and monotonous, every corner revealing another stretch of road that either seems to last forever or changes into other twists and turns. At least the road signs and landmarks seem familiar the closer they get to the Belmont Hold, Trevor thinks. He wishes the horses would somehow be able to move faster without rattling their wagon through and through, but he knows it’s wishful thinking. Besides, they now have three full suits of armour laying on top of their personal luggage in the cart. It’s slowing them down, tiring the horses at a faster rate.

He’d asked Alucard yesterday if he wanted them to bring the metal men back to his castle, but there was no reply. Real useful that one-way mirror of his. Sypha had argued that Alucard wouldn’t have placed three full suits of armour in their path because he knew they were travelling light, and it had been a cheap joke on his path, so _just leave them_. Trevor had protested that claim. _You don’t just dump three suits of armour in the middle of nowhere, that would be a waste_. Besides, they had plenty of room on the wagon, and if Alucard had indeed meant to get rid of them, bringing them back would be Trevor’s revenge.

So he had loaded the metal things on the cart.

He looks over at Sypha sitting next to him. She’s having a rough time, he can tell. He’s had his fair share of shitty life events, but Sypha hasn’t had to deal with anything like this before, and it’s eating at her now. He doesn’t really know how he can help her apart from giving her the things she asks for when she asks for them.

It’s not like he has such a great track record of processing these kinds of things himself. When his family was murdered, he ran. He stole food and lived in the woods for a while, did odd jobs at farms in the area and just… tried not to think about his family, lost forever. He still sometimes wakes in the middle of the night from dreams of fire and ash. The worst part is that, as he grows older, their faces start to fade. The one memory he tried to hold on to as a child, and it’s starting to leave him.

Perhaps that old pain is why he is more equipped to deal with the events at Lindenfeld. He still blames himself for trusting an absolute bastard of a human being without questioning it, but he doesn’t lie awake from it at night as Sypha does. Come to think of it, he didn’t even question Alucard more than the one time they tried to kill each other. He endured more questioning from Alucard’s end. Perhaps his people skills are rusty, but in fairness he hasn’t had to directly deal with many of them for a long time. In spite of all that, so many men were prepared to follow him to fight that bloody monster in Lindenfeld.

So many are dead…

Sypha has barely spoken to him these past few weeks. He blames himself for that, too. This is, after all, his life. They had searched for the speakers for another two weeks, but the road had made both of them wary and their supplies were running low. On a whim they had decided to return to Alucard, to give themselves time to regroup and strategize, perhaps find a tracking spell either in the Belmont Hold or in Alucard’s library.

Well, that was their official story anyway. They both knew they just wanted some fucking peace and quiet for a while and on top of that Trevor misses the bloody bastard. He wonders how it all would have gone if Alucard had joined them on their quest to find the speakers – probably a lot better. He would have recognized the sigil on the houses and he would have acted and there wouldn’t be so many casualties, not an entire town wiped out. So many dead…

The thoughts in his mind keep swirling endlessly, and he knows no good can come of it. The road ahead of them is long and boring and he wishes Sypha would speak, but he also doesn’t want to intrude on her silence. He can hear Alucard’s question, from back in his keep in Gresit. _Do you care?_ Well yes, now he fucking does, and inner turmoil is all he gets in return, _does that make you happy, Alucard?_

Sypha isn’t sleeping well from it. She also doesn’t talk and laugh as much as she used to. At least Alucard made her laugh with his antics the previous day, the bastard. In hindsight it was probably funny for the both of them and he appreciated the effect it had had on Sypha, but he would never admit that to either of them.

When he thinks about it, he knows they shouldn’t have left Alucard alone, or maybe Alucard shouldn’t have left them on their own to venture out into a dangerous world. But Sypha’s enthusiasm was addictive, made his heart lighter after so many years of heaviness. He couldn’t not have chosen to go with her.

And Alucard… Alucard. He would never admit it, but he misses Alucard. Life’s no fun without the constant mockery and sarcasm, articulated with a voice as smooth as molten butter. Sypha was thinking about him a lot, too. She had a weird habit of talking about Alucard right before going to bed and after waking up, followed by absolutely nothing during the day. If it had been anyone else he might have taken offence – but he understood. Alucard was just… Alucard.

“We should never have left Alucard alone.” _Speak of the vampire bastard…_

“What makes you say that now?” Trevor asks. What he means is _I’m glad you’re talking to me._

“Look at the state of us after Lindenfeld,” Sypha says. Trevor looks at his hands. He isn’t… It doesn’t affect him that much, does it? He’s not entirely happy, sure, but he hasn’t been for a long time, this is nothing new. “Alucard lost his mother, obtained a deadly injury, and then killed his father, all within the span of a year. I can’t imagine that doesn’t weigh on him.”

“Hmmmm.” Stupid. He hadn’t thought of that yet. He had, but at the same time Alucard seemed fine when they left him. Sure, he seemed a little upset about the events, but he was also the first to try to put a stop to Dracula. His own father… Then again, it’s not like Trevor had really opened up to Alucard and Sypha at all. Sypha now more so than Alucard, but still, there were many things he would just rather prefer not to speak of.

For a moment he thinks that maybe Alucard had been the same way. “He seems to be doing well enough to have found himself a time-travelling lady friend,” Trevor says instead.

“Well. We don’t know that for sure.” Sypha sounds almost insulted by that.

“What do you mean we don’t know that for sure? I asked about her and he asked how we knew that name, which she fucking signed on the letter. Seems pretty guilty to me,” Trevor says.

Sypha scoffs. “Well. If he is, and he isn’t, it’s his right to find someone. It’s not like _we_ stayed around for him.” _We. What does she mean, we?_

Trevor sits up straight and exhales slowly. “We were always going to come back, though.”

“Right. After starting our own… thing.” Trevor isn’t sure whether or not he is offended by her calling whatever it is they have, that. It’s not like he would have put it any other way himself. “Besides. A time-travelling lady friend sounds ideal for him. Stretch out the span of her human life over a couple of centuries…”

Trevor feels a hollow pit in his stomach. _Because he’s immortal and with our luck we’ll be dead before long._

“But…” Sypha sighs. “I’ll admit I didn’t see it coming. It’s only been a couple of months.” _Right, because it has taken her exactly how long to cuddle up to him at night?_

He doesn’t say it. Instead he allows the conversation to die, perhaps waiting for Sypha to start it up again, knowing that she won’t. After all, they can’t escape the aftermath of Lindenfeld. 

There is no denying it was good that they had been there. Otherwise all their efforts and all Alucard’s sacrifices – killing his own father, the only man who might have lived with him forever – would have been for nought. However, there’s also the issue of what they have seen. Trevor isn’t sure whether they should tell him of how they saw both of his parents reunited in hell – it seems both cruel and not at the same time. At least they were together again, but hell of all places...

He had talked about it with Sypha the night before. What had Lisa of Lupu done to warrant going to hell for? Was simply being Dracula’s wife enough to seal that deal, or had it been something else? And what about Sypha – self-proclaimed enemy of God – was she scared? Was he scared? Were the wastelands of the dead filled with Belmonts? Now that he’s seen it, he’s worried about his own fate. Somehow he doesn’t feel like an ex-communicant who has regular sex out of wedlock and curses like a heretic would be in line for a place in the heavens. Were his ancestors, his family, there? His aunts and uncles, his sisters, his cousins, his parents – why had they risked their lives hunting vampires and all sorts of creatures of the night, if hell seemed to be their lot in death?

Hell didn’t seem pleasant in the slightest.

Sypha hadn’t had answers this time, she knew as much as he did on the topic. Only a quote from a long dead Roman Emperor, who said something about how you shouldn’t worship the unjust Gods; and that a just God would reward you for having lived a good life. All things considered, fighting creatures of the night and attempting to kill Dracula seemed like pretty redeeming qualities to him. A little heresy here and there probably wouldn’t change that, right?

He sighs again. The thoughts keep swirling and it’s tiring. The sun is low on the horizon and the horses are getting tired. For as far as he’s concerned they’ve finished the last leg of that day. He reins in the horses, commands them to stop walking.

“Let’s camp here for the night.”

-

“Are you okay?” Sypha asks. She has been asking it a lot, lately. Mostly it’s her way of saying that she isn’t really okay. She hands him a cup of hot water and settles in next to him. Trevor settles one hand at her back, for reassurance, for what it’s worth.

“Just… thinking in circles,” he says. She nods. He’s fine, really. There just wasn’t much to do these days, and with nothing to do the thoughts would just keep coming.

“I can’t stop thinking about the little shoes,” Sypha finally says. 

Trevor looks at her, but she’s staring at the fire.

“I know many people died that night in the most gruesome way, but--” she trails off.

Trevor holds her closer, unsure of if it is actually helping or not. He doesn’t know what else to do.

“I just don’t understand it. He was a human man and he murdered those children.” Something in her voice breaks.

“It’s probably a good thing that you don’t understand it. People can be all sorts of fucked up. You aren’t one of those people, Sypha,” he says. She looks at him for a brief moment and smiles.

“You never took your anger and frustration out on the children of the people who burned down your home,” she says. “He took their lives because they were walking the wrong way. Who does that?”

“An evil bastard, that’s who. Listen. People like that exist, but most people are just trying to get by and make a living.”

Sypha thinks for a moment. “But you, you had reason to despise the people who burned down your village, and you never harmed them.” _Pffft. Well, not them specifically._

“Weren’t you the one who called me out on all my stories ending in getting drunk and punching some guy in the face,” Trevor says, grinning at her.

Sypha shakes her head. “That’s different. They can fend for themselves and they just end up with some bruises.”

“Hmmmm.” He was just trying to make her laugh. Attempt failed, clearly.

He takes a bite of the already hard bread and drinks down the cup of hot water. _There’d better be some beer at the castle_ , he thinks.

Talking about Lindenfeld over and over again offers no explanation, no solution for the terrible secret of that village; the lapse in judgment on their part. He’s still recalibrating his inner judgment. _How can a total bastard of a dhampir be more honourable than a fucking judge? In all his years on this Earth, he’s never heard of such bullshit before._

They eat their meal in silence. Sypha tosses a few morsels of bread to the doves that now accompany them, presumably towards the castle. Assuming it was Alucard who sent the armour and threw the scraps of paper – and really he has no reason to believe otherwise, _the son of a_ – the doves were sent by Maria Renard. Trevor wonders who she is. He has vague memories of the Renard clan from when he was younger. Supposedly they were monster hunters in France, too, and they moved into the east of Europe not long after the Belmonts did. When they were both still allowed at the courts of other Noble families, theirs was the one his family regularly visited. His grandmother had always spoken highly of them, the few times their name came up in conversation. But they were not _openly_ known as monster hunters, they were safe. And, unfortunately, to ensure their safety, the Belmonts had stopped communicating with them. It had been better that way.

Trevor hates the thought as it comes up, but he finds himself wondering if Alucard is safe from her. What if he ends up trusting the wrong person, like they did? Suddenly he wishes they were there already, at the castle. He knows Alucard can take care of himself but… _ugh._

One more day. There’d better be a soft bed waiting for him.

-

He can’t sleep. Sypha’s cold feet aren’t getting any warmer, and the forest keeps producing irregular noises that he can’t seem to drown out. It should be calming to him, the forest sounds and the presence of a mostly warm body next to him – but there are just too many damn thoughts going through his mind.

They are close to the Belmont Hold. One more day of travelling, and they can make it before nightfall. It would take them less time if they didn’t have to carry around the stupid pieces of mounted armour. Sypha’s enchanted them to stand guard and give out a warning should there be intruders.

He shifts, pulls Sypha closer to him. He doesn’t know what to say to Alucard once they get there. _Hey, we’ve had a pretty terrible time with some priests trying to resurrect Dracula, also your mother’s in hell, what’s up with that? Sypha isn’t really talking to me, and we definitely shouldn’t have left you alone, also I lowkey think I might want you to actually kiss me but I’m not sure because you’re also kind of an asshole and I’m pretty sure Sypha would be second in line if you decided you’ll have us and as we’re all already doomed we might just as well so…_

Yeah. Better to just return the finger and pretend like nothing happened. The easy way out.

“Trevor,” he hears Sypha say. She covers his mouth with her hand. It’s good that she does, because when he opens his eyes, one of the enchanted armour mannequins is hovering over them. He curses silently. They’re creepy as fuck.

“Something’s close. Come on, get up.”

He grips the morning star from the right side of their make-shift bed and puts his belt and boots on before he gets out of the wagon, every part of his body on full alert.

“I hear them,” he says. Voices are coming from the road. They moved their wagon a couple of yards into the bushes, but the creatures on the path should have no trouble tracking the wheel tracks. “You wait for them further down the path, I’ll see who they are and what they’re planning to do.”

Sypha nods and sneaks off into the bushes. Trevor takes a deep breath. There are voices, so they can’t be night creatures. Judging from those voices, it’s a small group, maybe three or four. If they’re out at night they could be vampires or maybe just people who know how to fend for themselves. Either option doesn’t sound ideal for them right now.

He sneaks closer, paying attention to where he places his feet, but it’s difficult in the dark. As he gets closer he can pick up part of their conversation.

“…picking pockets, now that’s the real art… No rough stuff, just take it and go.” He can see the group approaching. He moves closer and curses silently. There are five of them, looking pretty hardy and rugged. They’re definitely human because otherwise they would have heard him by now. Two of them carry bows and short swords, one of them carries a large axe, and the other two carry broad swords. The person who has just spoken is smaller than the others, so Trevor decides to call him _the small one_. Heh.

“Hmph, doesn’t sound like much fun though…” It’s the biggest of the five. Naturally, Trevor calls him _the big one._ He’s one of the broad sword carriers, and must be able to pack a pretty good punch.

“Neither does working for a bunch of vampires,” the small one says, and if Trevor hadn’t been interested before, he definitely is now. 

“This again?” The man with the axe says, who will henceforth be known as _the axe man_. “Look, I told you. We don’t have to deal with the vampires, we just need to prevent anyone from leaving Wallachia. We can take all the coin we want and be set up for life, move to France or Italy or something.” _What the hell is this?_

“Yeah? Wonder if they’ll let us leave,” the small one says. Clearly, he has been outvoted on whatever stupid plan the others have thought of, and he’s not going to shut up about it.

“By the time they notice we’re gone, we’ll be _gone_ you stinking piece of goat’s arse.” There isn’t much that sets this man apart, but he’s rude, so he will have to do with _the rude one._

“Hey! You take that back!” The small one draws his short sword and pulls a knife from his boot and aims it angrily at the rude one.

“Stop it! Both of you!” The guy with the axe speaks, standing between them. If anyone is leading this group of bandits, it’s got to be him.

“I’ll kill him if he talks that way to me again!” says the small one.

“Think about the coin, idiot. Think of how many women that will buy you, and then think of how you can tolerate each other whilst we’re making easy coin, got it? For Christ’s sake,” the axe man says.

The small one grumbles, but lays off. The fifth man hasn’t said anything thus far, Trevor decides to call him the silent one. In the moonlight he can see that the silent one has very pleasant features and could as such be known as _the handsome one,_ but he’s in a group with others speaking of working with vampires and Trevor won’t allow him the satisfaction. Not that he would ever find out what Trevor thinks about him. The bandits walk right past the cart tracks in the sand off the road. Trevor decides it’s best to let them pass, but then he hears something. _Sypha._

“Hello, fellas. I’m very interested to find out exactly how you were planning to make that coin,” she says, fire in her eyes.

Instantly, the big one jumps forward, broadsword drawn and runs towards Sypha, but she’s well-prepared and encases the man’s body in a block of ice, rendering him unable to move in any way, shape or form. He can blink and breathe, but that’s it. Trevor grins. _That’s his girl._

“How about we try that again, huh?” she says. Trevor can’t see their facial expressions, but from the way they stand still and move ever so slightly closer together he can tell they’re scared.

“Witch! We will tell you nothing of the sort!” The rude man seems braver than the others.

“Shoot her down,” the axe man barks at the small one and the rude one, who are both carrying bows. Trevor knows Sypha can very well handle this herself, but he decides it’s time to step out of the bushes and make his presence known.

As the two men grab their bows and hold them at the ready, Trevor takes out his whip, calculates the angle within a hair of a second, and stretches out his arm. As the men pull the strings on their bows, Trevor’s whip catches around the bow of the rude one. He pulls, and as the bow gives way it snaps into two pieces. Trevor takes a few more paces to the right and pulls again. The whip makes its way back to Trevor, but in its path there is now the small one. Just before the small one releases the arrow, the broken bow that is caught in the whip is thrown in his face, throwing him off his path as the arrow is released and shot into one of the nearest trees. They turn around and in the moonlight Trevor can now see the surprise in their faces.

“I was right about you, you know. You are rude. The lady asked you a question,” Trevor says.

The axe man signals for the two bigger men to get after Trevor. Trevor narrows his eyes at them. _Silent and Rude. He can take them._

He dodges the first attack of the rude one, grabs his hand with the sword still in it, and as he stands behind the man he redirects his attack to the incoming silent one, who manages to dodge it by swerving to the left, out of reach. Trevor squeezes the wrist of the rude one until he drops his weapon, then wraps his whip around the arm and pulls it behind his back.

The silent one returns, but Trevor manoeuvres the rude man in front of him and uses him as a human shield as he ducks to dodge the stabs and jumps away far enough to be out of reach of the kicking legs of the man he’s holding. Then he kicks the man in his back, and he falls towards the silent one, who barely manages to escape falling himself. The rude one, however, isn’t so lucky, and softens his fall with one arm, but that is exactly what Trevor had been waiting for as he jumps on the back of the man and with one short movement takes the second arm and binds it to the first with his whip. As Trevor gets up, he manages to include one of the man’s legs in the knot as well. _Try to get up now, you ugly piece of shit._

Trevor draws his sword and parries an attack from the silent man. He’s strong, has a good grasp of technique, and is able to keep up with Trevor for a little while, but he’s no contender for the strength and technique of a certain half-vampire who Trevor has fought before. Trevor gives him no quarter, and as soon as there is an opening he attacks and cuts the man’s belt into two separate pieces. Trevor grins as the thug looks furious. _This is usually the part where they get careless._

He’s right. The man’s attacks seem less thought out and his footwork fumbles as he’s now resorting to brute strength. Trevor parries each attack, then kicks the man in his shins with enough force to make him stumble. The man drops his weapon and Trevor sees an opportunity to punch the man right on the side of his head, and he falls down, unconscious.

Trevor checks both men. One unconscious, and the other tied up. The rude man tries to get up, but Trevor grabs him by the collar of his shirt and knocks him out, too. Yup, they are of no further threat right now. Still, he takes their weapons and throws them in the ditch at the side of the road.

Then he turns to look how Sypha’s doing. She had taken on the small one and the axe man at the same time. He’s just in time to see how the small one is on fire as he runs off the road to roll in the wet grass. The axe man, however, isn’t one to give up even as the fire licks at his beard. He lets out a terrible growl and runs towards Sypha with his axe held high in the air.

“Sypha!” Trevor shouts. It’s too late for the axe man. Sypha summons a small number of razor sharp ice shards, and sends all of them at different angles in the general direction of the axe man. Trevor guards his eyes with his arm. When he looks up, he can see the remnants of the ice shards lying on the ground, scattered amongst the numerous remains of the axe man.

Such raw power. Trevor is impressed, awed, horrified and a little turned on all at once.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yes,” Sypha says. “Now let’s see where that rat went—” she marches over to the side of the road, all fury and flames, and grabs a somewhat charred man out of the ditch and brings him back to the road.

“Speak, rat. How did you intend to make that coin?” Sypha demands. _Rat is a much better name than small one,_ Trevor thinks as he walks over to Sypha, trying not to step in the blood of the pieces of axe man. _The axe man got chopped up… how ironic._ Still, it’s not a pretty sight.

The rat seems too confused to realise what has just happened and just keeps staring at Sypha in awe.

“Well? I haven’t got all day,” Sypha barks.

He regains some of his senses. “ _Please,_ ” he begs, “ _They will kill me!_ ”

Sypha is especially angry. “You’re dead anyway. If you talk, you have a few more seconds to try to escape. The choice is yours.”

“We heard the rumours… The royalty up in Styria is recruiting all sell-swords in the region – they pay good coin! I didn’t want to join at first but the group—”

“Styria? Coin for _what_ exactly?” Trevor asks. Styria has been the seat of vampires for longer than there have been Belmonts in Wallachia, every person who dares call themselves a monster hunter knows that.

“The borders! They want guards for the borders – chief here says that—” he looks around in agony, realising that the chief isn’t among the living anymore.

“What did he say? Tell me!” Sypha demands loudly.

“Separate the east from the west of Europe for—for—” _Shit._

“For a never-ending food supply,” Trevor realises. Dracula’s war on humanity continued. The east is far weaker than the west. Not for lack of strength from its people, but it’s less structured, less organized, and there is barely any knowledge amongst the common folk on how to kill the bloody things – the night creatures and the vampires would have free reign. _Fuck._

The rat takes advantage of this realisation and manages to pry himself loose from Sypha’s hands, pushes her hard and runs away. Sypha gets up quickly, draws a sigil in the air and Trevor can feel the frost assembling – but he grabs her hand before she can finish it.

“Let him go,” Trevor says. God knows the rat deserves to die, but he gave them valuable information. He thinks back to the covered wagon and the warm blankets and how he will definitely not be able to sleep with this new information.

“I want to get my whip back, any chance you can help me imprison the rest of these scumbags?”

Sypha nods. She creates an icy prison in which she throws the big guy who was already encased in ice. Trevor picks up the unconscious silent man with a lot of effort and drags him to the make-shift prison. Then he collects his whip from the rude man. He, too, is placed into the icy prison, which Sypha then seals. It’ll hold them at least until the morning arrives and Trevor and Sypha will be long gone by then. _That’s what you get for conspiring to work with vampires, assholes._

Sypha then calls for the three enchanted armour mannequins and commands them to stand guard.

When she turns to Trevor, the fire in her eyes has dimmed and she looks tired. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep,” she says.

Trevor agrees. The weight of this new information dawns on him, makes his chest feel heavy. What force can he, what force can the three of them – four, if Maria Renard is as capable as they are – exert on the entirety of Styria, combined with an endless supply of bandits who will betray their own kind for coin from vampires?

No. Stop. One step at a time. They need to get to Alucard, perhaps he has some valuable insight to share with them. However…

“But the horses need their rest,” he says. They can’t start anything until dawn. Sypha nods.

“We can rest now, and sleep when we’re at Alucard,” she says. She checks the icy cage once more, then takes his hand and holds it tight. “We’ll figure it out, we always do,” she says.

And to just hear her say that, after everything they have been through, is enough to give Trevor hope that yes, they absolutely will figure it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not an axe deodorant commercial, axe man just had an axe and got chopped up bc that's what axes do.................................... (social distancing is getting to me, I swear I'm more coherent usually)


	7. Nychthemeron of Recollection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the chapter title (in case you’re interested): there’s a really easy and commonly used word for “24-hour period” in my native language, Dutch, it’s “etmaal”. For as far as I know there isn’t one in English other than Nychthemeron (I had to look that up, it’s of Greek origin, and apparently only used as jargon). I wanted to use “etmaal”, and I’m sorry English speakers your language is lovely but “24-hour period” or just "full day" just doesn’t capture the sentiment, u feel me? 
> 
> Although, thinking about it now, it does sound funny to me: “24-hour period of recollection”, like when you have two cats and you name one Harold Napoleon the Third and the other Biscuit.
> 
> Anyway, I wanted to get that out of my system. If it makes you feel any better, Dutch doesn’t have a direct translation for “fortnight”. So I guess we’re both languages with highly specific words for slightly arbitrary timespans. :)

Alucard rubs his eyes and sighs. Another night has come to its end, and with that, another 24-hour period without sleep. In his defence, this time there had been a good reason for it. After learning her own name, Maria had been starting to remember more and more. Alucard hypothesises that it has something to do with the scar that seems to be retreating – which, thankfully, seems to be a good thing and it’s going slow and steady – but as with most curses, there was always a price to pay.

Maria had been feeling terribly ill the previous day and night. Alucard suspected the headache had something to do with the memories returning, and the nausea had more to do with the headache than the actual curse, but it was still disconcerting to him. He had half a mind to give up searching for _the_ _dagger of nightmares_ , as she had taken to call it, and just monitor her health more closely. There was nothing in his father’s library about the dagger at all, for as far as he could tell. The only reason he was still searching for it was to give his mind something to do in the long and lonely nights.

Yesterday had been a lonely day, too. Maria had stayed in bed the entire day, only to wake up once every few hours with a nightmare. They seemed to be getting more and more extreme. At the same time there wasn’t much else for her to do than to just sleep through it.

When she had come to the kitchen at dinnertime, she was exhausted and didn’t really want to eat or talk. Alucard had been worried. She had to eat or drink something, especially since her body was still recovering from the stab wound. He’d made chicken soup for her, like his father used to make for his mother when she had been feeling a little under the weather. She had eaten it, but very slowly. Her mind had clearly been elsewhere.

He had wanted to ask her all about who she was, what life was like in 1802, how she got to be here – but he felt it would be in bad taste to bother her with his own curiosity whilst she was feeling so sick. So he had dropped it. Still, he sincerely hopes she feels better today.

Speaking of which… Alucard yawns. He knows he should sleep, he really does. He doesn’t know how Maria deals with it other than having no other choice because she’s human. He’s beyond tired at this point, but drinking blood is easier. So he stands up and makes his way to the cellar, drinks two pints of blood, and revels in the energy that is once again flowing through his body. As he makes his way back up the stairs and towards the kitchen, he wonders how long it will last.

-

The kitchen is dark when he gets there, the curtains are closed. Something smells incredibly sweet and lovely, but he can’t quite place it. Maria is sitting at the table, slowly sipping at a cup of tea, seemingly lost in thought. She looks tired in the faint light of the lamps, but when she looks up at him, she smiles.

“Good morning,” she says.

“Good morning,” Alucard replies. “How are you feeling today?”

“Better than yesterday, although I still have a horrible headache.” She rubs her forehead. “The sunlight doesn’t feel quite right. It’s that kind of headache.”

“I might have something for that,” Alucard says. He rummages in one of the cabinets and finds what he is looking for: powder extracted from willow bark. “It’s—”

“Willow bark extract, oh praise the Lord,” Maria says. “I sometimes forget that your father knew about all these things centuries before they are discovered by the public.”

Alucard holds still for a moment, amused. _She sometimes forgets? That’s an understatement._ On second thought, it begs the question how she knows this about his father to begin with. He doesn’t remember telling her specifically, although she might have guessed it from the enormous library and laboratory he has showed her.

He hands the bottle to her alongside a glass of water. She takes what he knows is the maximum dosage for adult humans. So the humans have discovered this in 1802. He isn’t sure whether to think of it as an early or late discovery, considering there are more than 300 years between then and now. Regardless, apparently there is still hope for human ingenuity. He now knows that the French monarchy will be disposed of in the future and that willow bark is discovered as a pain killer. All things considered, that’s… interesting, but also completely useless information. He wonders if he can ask her more today.

As he lays the table for breakfast, she retreats into her own mind again and clutches her teacup. He doesn’t know how long she has been awake for, but there’s already freshly baked bread in the oven. Upon closer inspection, there are smaller rolls of dough in the oven, too. _That must be where the sweet smell is coming from._ There’s a bowl of walnuts mixed in with honey on the counter. He’s very interested to find out what she’s made.

When he sits down at the table, he catches her quietly staring at him.

“You’re staring,” he says.

Maria blinks a few times and snaps out of it. “Am I? How rude of me.”

“What were you thinking of?” Alucard asks.

She sighs. “Time.”

“I see. Something light before lunchtime, then,” he teases. Maria grins.

“Well. It was admitting to that, or tell you again how beautiful you are, and I don’t want you to get cocky,” she says. Alucard’s eyes widen and he can feel his cheeks filling up with blood. He walked right into that one. Maria seems very pleased with herself as she picks up one of the sweet dough rolls.

He’s beyond curious about her. Perhaps it’s time to be a little forward and just… ask.

“Maria—” He doesn’t know what to ask for first.

“Hmmm?”

“I was just wondering whether your memories have returned,” he simply says.

Maria puts down her knife and her face turns serious. “I think so, yes. If there’s anything I’m missing, I suppose it’s harder to figure it out now because it will be obscured by the things I do remember.”

“Memory can be a fickle thing,” Alucard agrees.

“I don’t really know where to start processing all these memories. It’s the strangest feeling. I know they have been there and that they’re my memories, but I also remember them not being there. It’s like I’m two people at the same time.” She sighs again and takes a bite of the sweet roll. Her worried look disappears like the snow on a warm spring day. She grins quietly to herself, pleased with what she’s made, and for a moment Alucard swears his heart grows a few sizes.

He must try them later, but she’s talking to him again and there are things he wants to know. She didn’t mind him asking before, ergo…

“Do you remember how you ended up here?” Alucard asks.

She nods, and rubs her forehead again. “I do. Give me a minute, I need to figure out how to phrase this,” she says. How to phrase it? For a second Alucard feels the paranoia and tension building in his stomach, because how hard can it be to simply recite a memory, except for if you were to omit certain details? Thankfully it dissipates quickly after he reminds himself she literally only has most of her memories for less than a full 24 hour period. _Please, try to contain yourself. Not everyone is out to kill you._

“There was this…” she starts. She frowns. “He calls himself a _Guardian of Time_. Aeon. I’ve met him before, when I was fifteen, but I didn’t remember that for a long time either. I don’t exactly know how it works, but I and… _some others_ … were transported to a realm outside of time. I became his champion and fought the time reaper.”

Of all the things he had expected to hear today, this certainly wasn’t one of them. It pains him to admit it, but he has no idea what she’s talking about. _So this is what that feels like…_

Maria notices his confusion and smiles apologetically. “Believe me, I don’t know how it works, either,” she says. “Anyway, I was just on my way to the village for groceries and then he appeared again and told me he needed my help.”

So that’s all it takes for her to pack up and leave her own life behind. Someone asked her for her help. Granted, that someone was a Guardian of Time, but it says a lot about her character. “I assume that brings you here,” Alucard says. 

Maria nods prior to resting her head in her hands. “I don’t know why he would choose me. I’ve faced Shaft twice before, and I have never been able to defeat him.”

“Shaft?” Alucard asks.

“A dark priest,” Maria explains. “Aeon says… well, he’s said a lot of things, I can’t make sense of all of it yet, and that’s not related to my memories being gone. It’s just a lot to wrap my head around. But ultimately it comes down to this: Aeon sent Shaft’s critically weakened form back in time to preserve the canon flow of time.”

“The canon flow of time?” Her story makes less and less sense the more she talks about it.

Maria throws up her hands in exasperation. “He was supposed to be dead, I had it on _very good authority_ that he died in 1797. Otherwise I don’t know either. I’m not actually a time-traveller, I was just sent here by Aeon as his champion.”

“Alright, it’s alright,” Alucard says. He isn’t sure whether he needs to assess the nature of the threat first or try to find out more about Maria. He chooses the latter. “I assume Aeon choose you for a reason. Perhaps you having faced him twice before is advantageous.”

Maria pulls a face of faint disgust and shakes her head. “The first time I was twelve and he killed my parents and I had to rely on Richter to save me,” she says. He can see the sadness in her eyes. She said she was twenty-two now, and the pain is still there. He wonders if it ever goes away, pain like that. He tries not to think of his own parents, but they’re the only image in his mind whenever parents as an entity are mentioned. _What does the future hold for him, he wonders._

“But Richter isn’t here, you are,” he says, hoping it sounds at least a little bit encouraging.

“The second time I only caught a glimpse of him whilst he made Richter his puppet,” Maria says. “A… _good friend of mine_ faced him. He barely spoke to me the next year.” She looks away. Oh? _A mystery friend._ She isn’t a good liar, which in itself is comforting to know. The question is why she would want to obscure these specific details from him.

“Your mystery friend isn’t here either,” Alucard says, monitoring her reaction. She blushes.

“No, he isn’t,” she says, her heart skipping a few beats. _A lie? Or perhaps she’s embarrassed._ Alucard is suspicious of her now. Why won’t she tell him?

“What are you hiding?” Alucard asks, trying his very best not to sound either panicked or angry.

Defying his expectations, Maria looks him in the eye now. “Aeon gave me a warning, and I intend to honour it however I can. I cannot tell you or anyone else about events in the future. Only the information I deem relevant to defeating Shaft.”

Alucard frowns. That’s a real easy way to get out of talking freely, just say that a Guardian of Time forbade it and _voila,_ no further questions asked.

“Why is that?” he asks.

Maria thinks for a moment. “Well, he explained it like this,” she says, looking around the room, searching for something. She can’t seem to find it, and shakes her head. “Let me ask you a question. Is there someone you can’t stand?”

Without missing a beat, Alucard says: “Trevor Bel—"

“Alucard!” Maria reprimands him.

He rolls her eyes at her. “Fine. Godbrand, one of my father’s generals. He was loud and rude and always smelled of—”

“I really didn’t need more than a name,” Maria says, amused.

“Right. You were saying?” _Something’s off. She has called him Adrian ever since he expressed his preference for it. Why call him Alucard now?_

“Well, okay. Say you hate the name Godbrand, right? But then I come from a time where one of your descendants is named Godbrand. I tell you this now, in the past for me, but your present time. What would you do?”

Alucard considers it for a moment. “I suppose I have no choice but to install Godbrand as a family name.”

“Right. But there was not one possible scenario before our interaction where you would consider Godbrand as a family name,” Maria says.

“I see…”

“So where does the name really come from? Did I give it to your descendant, or did you? Or was it something else entirely? And if you were to fight it, to tell your descendants to never name one of their children Godbrand, what happens then? Would I, upon my return, discover that this descendant is named differently and the world has changed? Would time correct the error by random chance or would it shatter? Perhaps then Aeon would have to send someone else back in time to fix that, too, and then imagine where we’d be.”

“It’s a paradox.” Alucard admits that, knowledgeable as he is on a multitude of topics, this is beyond him and may have been beyond his father’s knowledge, too. Perhaps there’s something to say for leaving these matters to Guardians of Time and their champions.

“Indeed. But then again – perhaps it doesn’t matter. After all, what’s in a name? Maybe this hypothetical Godbrand wouldn’t be any different if he were named Trevor Belmont, but you might act differently around him depending on which name he has, and ultimately, that might change his path in life.” She smiles at him. “But perhaps that changed path is already the path he was on in the first place.”

Alucard understands what Maria is saying, but he doesn’t know the correct answer to the question, and it’s frustrating. He would like to have a word with this Aeon to figure out what the correct answer is. Still, if there is no correct answer for him to give—

“I would very much dislike one of my descendants to be called Godbrand,” Alucard admits, trying to lighten the conversation. Maria starts to laugh.

“Oh well. Why should it matter to you? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” That is a very poetic way of saying that this hypothetical descendant might be the same person whether he would be named Trevor or Godbrand. In addition to all the time-travel mysteries, he also didn’t expect to be comparing Godbrand to roses today.

“What’s in a name… I’m pretty sure anyone named Godbrand would not smell sweet,” Alucard muses.

Maria grins. “Don’t go around quoting that too much, it’s from an author who hasn’t yet been born, you might accidentally give him the idea and then we’d end up in a similar situation.”

“And here I thought you were a poet,” Alucard says, mocking disappointment.

Maria shrugs. “I might yet be.”

He thinks about her words for a moment, and a silence falls at the kitchen table. Alucard understands why she might not say everything and would have to think about her words. He wishes he could banish the paranoid thoughts from his mind. Deep down he trusts Maria, he can tell she’s not pretending to be anything other than what she shows she is. However, when he hugged her two days ago it hadn’t been because he had decided to trust her completely, but more because that, if she were to betray him, it would have been only two more days before Trevor and Sypha would arrive.

Now she’s sitting opposite of him and he feels strangely guilty for thinking that way. Of course she isn’t going to harm him. What’s more, he has a hunch, a suspicion of why she seems to trust him so easily. He has to know… 

“I understand,” Alucard says. “I will try not to pry for information you cannot disclose, even if it is something I would dearly like to know. That way you don’t have to be on your guard the entire time.”

She smiles at him. “Thank you, Alucard.” There is it again. She called him Alucard after days of only calling him Adrian. That, and she told him she was happy to have found him when he met her for the first time, which means she already knew who he was. She knows more about his father, about Dracula, than he has begun to tell her. Two days ago she intuitively thought he was over 300 years old. Which— _God, he hasn’t even started to think about that, that’s a problem for another day._

He needs to know.

“In return, would you indulge me by answering this one question?” Alucard asks.

She raises her eyebrow at him. “Just one?” She seems suspicious.

“Just one.” _For now._ She stares at him intently.

“Alright, one question,” she decides.

Alucard takes a deep breath.

“Do we know each other in 1802?”

Maria’s face lights up and her lips curl into a mischievous smile.

“Yes. Yes we do.”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaaaaahhhhhhhh. Sorry I just really like it when she calls Alucard beautiful and then he blushes, I know it’s a little corny to repeat it so often but shhhhh allow me this indulgence. He deserves the world. When Trevor and Sypha arrive it’ll be quite something if Trevor can get his head out of his ass and actually say it out loud, too. 
> 
> I didn't include the tag for Maria/Alucard under the delusion that it wasn't obvious that the mystery lady was Maria Renard in the first few chapters, but yeah, it's also happening. But please trust me when I say that there's going to be Sypha/Trevor/Alucard, too! (They were the reason I started writing this fic in the first place!) They are my OT3 and Maria/Alucard is also my OTP, one person can have multiple ships. I feel like I should be disclaiming that at this point. It's just that time-travel is fun and it may look like it's complicating things but please please please trust me it's going to be alright ^^


	8. Old Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got stuck on this chapter for a little while, and also my brother bought the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow games and I am super addicted. The morning star whip is such a cool weapon y'all!!! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy :D

Maria is lounging on a couch in the library. She had every intention to get through some more literature on ancient weapons, magic spells, and magic potions to enchant daggers; but she has officially given up. To be fairly honest she isn’t worried so much since she’s assuming it’s all fine. Her memories are returning, the black scar is retreating, and the wound is healing. In her books, that’s a definite win.

There’s only the matter of the nightmares. Maria shifts uncomfortably on the couch. They don’t seem to be getting any better. As a matter of fact, they seem to be getting worse with each passing day.

She idly turns the pages of the book she’s reading. Nothing in it is registering. She closes the book and looks around. The library is huge, filled with God-knows how many books on God-knows how many subjects. This corner has a hearth and a couple of chairs, tables, and couches. She prefers it over the practical study areas, but it’s a bit lonely on her own.

Alucard is cleaning the guest bedrooms. She had offered to help, but he refused to let her, telling her in very delicate language that she, to put it kindly, looked exhausted. And to be fair, she absolutely was. Curtesy of the nightmares.

Thankfully, the return of her memories also meant the return of her connection to the spirits. She has half a mind to summon them, just to greet them more personally, but considering everything that’s going on… perhaps it’s better not to, at least not in the library.

Just being inside the castle is strange. Somehow it’s not so scary without monsters lurking around every corner, but she still wouldn’t want to get lost. It looks different from the last time she was here. Well, will be here, she supposes. Who knows how the castle would get back into Dracula’s possession for it to rise again as he would be resurrected. Or perhaps it was Alucard – sorry, Adrian, she must remember that – who remodelled the entire place.

No, wait. He explained it to her once – _the castle is a creature of chaos itself and can change its layout according to its own desires_. Perhaps she should start marking her way to and from the kitchen with breadcrumbs in the future, to prevent getting lost.

Hmmm. No, Adrian would find her.

It’s so strange to see him like this. She told him she herself felt like two different people at once, but he is like that to her, too. It’s easier to make a distinction between Adrian and Alucard for her: she knows Alucard in the future, but he would rather be called Adrian now. That, and Alucard has told her plenty of his past in 1802, which might still be part of his future now. He carefully left out this whole situation of her being in his history, how clever. Turns out he might be better equipped to deal with her time-travelling than she is. Of course he is.

But he is so young now... Maria finds it delightful to be older than him, especially since Alucard brings it up so much to tease her with it. Perhaps she can now use it in return to tease Adrian. It’s definitely time to set that straight.

Sypha and Trevor will be arriving today. She knows about them, of their adventures, their lives together with Adrian. She also knows that Adrian’s parents have only very recently died, and he’s still trying to come to terms with that. But she can tell there’s something else, and he won’t talk to her about it, hasn’t talked about it 300 years from now. She hates seeing him so sad. Her heart hurts for him.

She pains her head to figure out whether she remembers anything at all about what’s happened here. Alucard did have the habit to speak in riddles and half stories when she first started to live with him. The only thing she can think of was one of the conversations they’d had when they were returning from one of Richter and Annette’s family dinners. It had been Christmas eve, a time of reflection. She can’t even remember what had gotten them on the topic.

_“I’ve made mistakes when I was young.”_

_“As most people do, Alucard.”_

_“I suppose so. All I ask is please don’t condemn me when I tell you.”_

_“Whatever it is, it’s in the past. Will you tell me someday?”_

_“I will. However I cannot at this time.”_

_“No need to rush.”_

Maybe it was unrelated after all. The rest of the road they had travelled in silence. She remembers that much, because it was the first time he had held her hand.

-

Maria has so many questions. She knows that in the period after Trevor and Sypha’s death, at some point he had locked himself away for almost 200 years until the castle appeared again, and he emerged still heartbroken over their loss, unable to cope with his own immortality, putting up a cold and stoic front to get through the day to day life. So cold, in fact, that for a moment she had doubted him when two vampire hunters had shown up in the nearby village who accused him of drinking _other young women’s blood_. Thankfully it hadn’t been true, and she wouldn’t doubt him again. When she made the decision to stay he had finally started to open up to her. Over time, he had told her a great deal, and Maria had grown to love him very much.

Maria knows it’s a little unfair of her to use her knowledge of him to her advantage, but when she remembered how Alucard likes sweet dough rolls with honey and walnuts, she decided to make them. She had hoped it made him a little happier today.

Not that there was much that could go wrong today, though. Trevor and Sypha were coming and although he looked tired on most days, the fact that Trevor and Sypha were coming was enough to give him a little more energy. Hopefully they would arrive before dinner, she would like to get to know them a little better. She knows the stories, but to actually meet them would be a privilege. She wonders what they’re like.

Something stirs in the hallway. Maria shoots up.

“Adrian, is that you?” she asks.

She walks towards the hallway, the source of the noise, the whispers. She freezes in the doorframe. The eyes… the terrible eyes, they’re back! She can feel her heartbeat starting to pick up, but she forces herself to breathe slowly. She’s been through this before, these images might not be real. This time, she has her memory intact, she can feel her connection to the spirits, and she isn’t bleeding out. She’s clearly at an advantage.

“Genbu, I need you,” she whispers. The turtle comes forward and envelops her in an aura of protection. She can still see the monsters through her shield, but she knows they cannot harm her now. With fierce determination she walks towards the monsters that she sees. She keeps Genbu close, and summons Byakko to deal with the monsters. As she summons Byakko, nothing happens. The white tiger stares at the area in front of her, then turns around and lies down beside her, licking her hand.

There’s nothing there.

Maria blinks a few times, and the glowing eyes of the monsters disappear. They aren’t real, just like she thought. She makes a mental note to change the name from _dagger of nightmares_ to _dagger of nightmares and disturbing daytime hallucinations_.

Then she hears footsteps approaching and turns around in a split second, ready to send Byakko towards the newly appointed threat – but the tiger doesn’t even make an attempt to follow her direction. Which is clearly the better decision to make. It’s Adrian.

“Oh, it’s you.”

She very quickly dismisses Byakko and Genbu.

“Were you expecting anyone else?” Adrian asks.

“I thought I heard something… but I guess not,” Maria answers. She takes a deep breath and centres herself. The castle is still creeping her out, even if its energy is completely different from when she had been there in 1790 and 1797. But seeing as Shaft had been there both those times, it makes sense to be on her guard. She barely knows what Aeon wants her to do. He told her a dozen rules of time-travel, but other than that she has no idea where to even begin looking for Shaft. Should she go looking for him, or will he just appear in front of the castle? Or worse, what if he appears _within_ the castle?

“Are you alright?” Adrian asks. “Should I be worried you’re going to point another spear at me?”

Maria grins and shakes her head. “No need to worry about spears. The next time I see monsters I shall just send a dragon in your direction,” she jokes.

“Ah, nothing to worry about, then.” The sarcasm is audible. _Maybe she should tell him what she just saw,_ she thinks, but he drops the subject.

“I have something for you,” he says. He hands her a small bundle of clothes –her clothes– and from the looks of it completely cleansed of blood. There is still a tear in the fabric of the dress and the golden sash, but she can definitely mend that herself.

Maria smiles. “Ah, thank you! How did you manage to remove the blood?”

“A combination of household magic and science,” Adrian says. “I was cleaning the sheets anyway. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Why would I mind? This is amazing! I can’t believe you never told me before! I have wasted so many clothes this way.”

Adrian stares at her for a moment, then sports an amused grin, then shakes his head.

“What?” Maria asks.

“Maria… You know this means I cannot tell you how to do it in the future, right?” Now it’s her turn to stare at him, slightly puzzled. Oh. _Oh. So now it’s her own fault for losing all those blood-stained clothes. That’s not… that’s unfortunate._

“Shit. Well, please tell me after I’m back,” she says.

Adrian stares at her again and takes a deep breath. He’s clearly trying to hold back his laughter.

“Okay, you know what – maybe you should just stop talking now. You’re implying that we see each other often enough for me to tell you how to remove blood stains from clothing.”

It takes her a moment to catch up on that. It’s quite a bit more telling than that, really, but she’s glad he doesn’t mention that. After all, you don’t talk to just anyone about removing blood stains.

“Fucking time travel,” she mutters, slightly annoyed. Aeon’s gonna kill her. She doesn’t _really_ know what he is going to do, but it feels like he might. She’s really bad at this.

Adrian seems to find the situation very amusing. “When you said I couldn’t ask you about future events, I didn’t think you’d actually just tell me.”

She really has no witty reply to that. _Touché_. “I’ll just… shut up, then.”

“Please don’t,” Adrian says, smirking.

Maria takes the bundle of clothes from his hands and presses it tightly to her body. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be, I don’t know, to clean?”

He raises his hands in quiet acceptance.

“Alright, I’ll go back to cleaning, then,” he says. _There was something she wanted to tell him… oh!_

“Wait! Before I forget—”

“What, again? I thought your memories had returned,” Adrian says.

Maria looks at him, slightly perplexed. She can’t believe what she’s hearing. It took Alucard – the version she met at the precipice of the nineteenth century – literal _years_ before he started to make jokes like this around her.

“ _Excusez-moi_ ,” she says, perhaps a little too sharp.

His face turns serious in an instant. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

Maria scoffs. “Oh don’t worry about it, I can just not tell you and we’ll be even,” she says.

“No, Maria, tell me—”

“I don’t think I will.”

As she stares at Adrian, he stares back at her. It’s officially a stand-off. Maria is trying very hard to not start laughing instantly. She can’t tell what’s going on in Adrian’s mind, as he has a better grip on his demeanour than she does, as always.

“Well. I’m not going to ask you again,” Adrian says dryly after a while. “I’m not done cleaning, and Sypha and Trevor will be here soon. If this is to be an impasse, please let me know.” _Ugh. This is no fun._

“You’re right, Trevor and Sypha will be here soon. Perhaps there are other things you need to clean up,” Maria says. He doesn’t seem to catch her drift. She really has to spell it out for him, huh. “In the kitchen,” she adds, speaking slowly for emphasis.

His eyes grow wide as he understands what she means. “I— Thank you,” he says.

“You’re welcome. Now please tell me you have some needle and thread for me so I can fix this.” She puts her hand through the stab hole in her dress.

“I do, I will collect it for you. Shall we meet in the kitchen?” he asks.

Maria hesitates. She could go to the kitchen on her own no problem, but she really doesn’t want to be alone right now, not after what she just saw.

“Can I walk with you?” she asks. 

“Of course.”

-

It’s way past dinnertime when there’s finally a sign of life outside. Adrian has long finished cleaning the guest rooms and managed to cook enough for a family of twelve, most of which is in the oven to keep warm as they are waiting for Trevor and Sypha to arrive. Maria helped him where she could, peeling potatoes and chopping up vegetables, but Adrian is definitely the creative brain of the entire operation. He doesn’t necessarily _act_ stressed over all of this – but Maria can tell that he is. It’s really endearing to see – after all, she’s pretty sure any food is better than what most people end up eating on the road.

When they walk outside, Maria shivers. The sun has gone down and the winds are picking up again. It’s going to be a cold night. She has finished mending her own tunic, but she’s very content to be wearing Adrian’s long pants and shirt still. Secretly she wonders where he keeps his capes since they’re very warm and very soft and the spring air is going to be freezing in an hour or so. However, when she thinks about it, she hasn’t seen Adrian wear anything over his shirt at all – perhaps the coat and capes are a thing from the future.

Adrian looks… _almost nervous:_ that’s the best way to describe it. Maria knows that Alucard is an expert at hiding what he’s really feeling, and now she knows it seems to have started a long time ago. She wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t checked the cooked pheasant twelve times before he actually took it out of the oven. When he made it a couple of days back, he didn’t check it _once_ , that’s how well he knows how to make it.

Maria grins quietly to herself as they are standing at the bottom of the stairs to the castle. Adrian’s nervousness is adorable. The carriage stops in front of the staircase. To her surprise the doves have returned with it. She greets them happily.

“Sypha,” Adrian says. He helps her down the steps of the carriage. She’s younger than Maria expected for someone of her talents, and her short hair suits her really well. For a moment Maria wonders if she should cut her own hair, too, but the last time she did it took years to grow back. _Perhaps better not to, then._

Trevor descends the carriage by himself, if only for lack of being offered a hand by Adrian.

“Belmont,” Adrian says, his voice instantly balancing between neutral, pleased and annoyed.

Trevor Belmont, Maria finds, looks nothing like Richter Belmont, but he does carry the Morning Star whip. So this is Richter’s ancestor. She wonders if he will be anything like Richter, but thinking about it, she doubts she’s anything like the Renards who are living right now. There are more than 300 years between them. That’s what – twelve generations? That’s a lot of time for people to change.

“What, no help for me?” Trevor jokes.

“You’re a grown man, Belmont, I’m sure you’ll manage,” Adrian quips.

Maria is certain Trevor is going to respond with something equally witty or he will at least attempt to, but Sypha intervenes. “Children, it has barely been a minute,” she says. “Please wait at least until I’ve had something to eat.”

If Maria can be honest, Trevor and Sypha look… well, they look like shit. There are tears in their clothes and there’s mud everywhere, it’s safe to say they’ve travelled a long way without the luxuries of an inn. They’ll be pleased with the food and bed Adrian has sorted for them.

“We brought you back your armour,” Trevor points with his thumb at the carriage behind him. Sypha makes a sigil in the air, and something rattles at the back of the carriage. “Sypha enchanted them.”

Maria smiles silently as she looks at Adrian. She told him it would be a waste. Apparently Trevor and Sypha thought so, too. “You… really didn’t have to bring them back,” Adrian says. The three suits of enchanted armour walk towards them.

Adrian takes a closer look at the armour. “That’s an impressive enchantment, Sypha,” he says.

“Wait till she tells you what else she managed to do,” Trevor beams.

Adrian looks at Sypha, curious.

“That, my friends, is a story best told _over dinner,_ ” Sypha says. 

“Can’t argue with that,” Trevor says.

Now Sypha looks in her direction and flashes a tired smile. “Well, Alucard. Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

Adrian, who has been standing with his back towards her, now turns back towards Maria and motions her to come closer. Maria takes a step forward. She catches herself feeling a little intimidated by finally meeting Sypha and Trevor. It’s really strange to meet people who should only exist in stories. “Hi, my name is Maria Renard. You must be Sypha Belnades.”

Maria extends her hand and Sypha shakes it. “Pleasure to meet you,” Sypha replies.

When she releases Sypha, Trevor steps in. “I’m Trevor Belmont, it’s nice to meet you, Maria Renard.” He doesn’t shake her hand, but he grabs her entire arm, like Richter does. Maria is surprised by this small sign of familiarity, but it’s not unwelcome.

“Belmont, huh? My parents always spoke very highly of the Belmonts,” Maria says. _Alucard, too, if he can get over himself,_ she thinks.

Trevor releases her and combs his hands through his hair. “So you _are_ from that Renard clan then?” he inquires. “Glad to know they’re still living.” Can she… can she actually say that the Belmonts are still around in 1802 as well? It seems fairly intuitive to say that Sypha and Trevor have already established some sort of romantic relationship between them, but from her own experience she absolutely despises it when people assume she will get pregnant and have kids soon. She doesn’t really want to imply that to Sypha, who perhaps hasn’t even thought of that yet.

She smiles at him. Technically they’re sort of related. She was basically adopted by Richter’s parents and Richter’s great-great-grandmother and her own great-great grandmother started dating when their husbands had passed away at a young age. They had to care and provide for their children somehow. But that sounds like something she definitely shouldn’t be saying right now. 

“Well I assume they are living now, because they will be in the future,” Maria jokes instead. _Subject expertly avoided, well done Maria, you might make a proper time-traveller yet._

“Oh yes!” Sypha says excitedly, “You must tell me all about that! This will be a great story to tell, meeting a time-traveller!” _And… she’s simultaneously made it more difficult for herself, too._

“Can we _please_ do so over dinner, I’m starving,” Trevor says.

“You won’t be for much longer, Adrian cooked up an entire banquet for you,” Maria says. She proudly looks at Adrian, but he looks a little betrayed. Maria huffs silently. She thinks it’s sweet of him and she wants Trevor and Sypha to know exactly what he did because she has a feeling Adrian would just shrug it off like it was nothing. He barely let her help with _anything_ the first few days, constantly protesting she was his guest and it was only proper to accommodate her like that.

“Awesome, you’re the best, Alucard,” Sypha says.

 _Perhaps it’s best to leave them to catch up a bit, just the three of them_ , Maria thinks. For a moment she has a sinking feeling in her stomach. She shouldn’t be there, what if she’s messing things up simply by being there? She quickly shakes the feeling. If a Guardian of Time of all people wanted her to be here, she damn well belongs here and she shouldn’t forget it. _Still, it’s important to give them some space_ , Maria thinks. She won’t be stuck in this time forever, and Adrian needs them now.

“You go on ahead,” Maria says. “I’ll take care of your horses.”


	9. Triple Threat Triad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title: everyone's tired and should go to bed.
> 
> I wanted to post this sooner but I have been moving to a new place these past two weeks and it's been a little stressful. It's still a mess now but at least it's done! 
> 
> Also I have been incredibly addicted to Lords of Shadow, what a game. It's a different timeline but it won't stop me from headcanoning Trevor's parents as Gabriel and Marie Belmont just because I can. 
> 
> Thank you for your patience <3

There’s something so familiar about sitting down at the dinner table with Trevor and Sypha. Their presence is loud and warm and filling the room, and it makes the castle feel more vibrant, less empty. Alucard is glad they’re back.

They’re talking, but he fails to comprehend their words. He’s overwhelmed with a sense of ease, stemming from the sounds and smells in the air. The smell of food is mingled with dirt and sweat and the smell of horses and they combine with the burning firewood in the hearth. It’s more course and rough than what he is used to from his family, but it smells like home nonetheless.

Alucard tries his hardest not to stare at them, but he can’t help himself. He’s just so glad to see them again. They’re both dressed differently from when they left. From the outfit Sypha is wearing, he can see the claw marks on her shoulder. She doesn’t seem too bothered by it, perhaps she’s even wearing the scars proudly, evidence of what she’s gone through to save the people of Wallachia. The dress she wears is still fairly shapeless, but less so than her winter cloak. It makes her seem like spring, lighter, younger, and more lively. As if she doesn’t have to carry the fate of the world. As it should be.

And Trevor… He’s exchanged his light shirt for a black one. It’s a better fit than the previous shirt in terms of size, and it’s not as old and dirty as the white shirt. Alucard has half a mind to tell him how well it suits him, but then he reminds himself it’s Trevor and he either doesn’t care or he might read something into it, and Alucard isn’t sure he can handle that at the moment. Perhaps better to not do it, then.

Trevor’s talking about the first month of their travels. Or at least he was before Alucard’s thoughts started to wander off. He’s trying his best to catch up on the conversation between Trevor and Sypha, which seems to be mostly a monologue of Trevor narrating their adventures in between bites of pheasant. Sypha wasn’t joking when she said she was hungry. She has barely managed to speak at all, she’s just eating as if she hasn’t eaten in days. And Trevor is drinking like a sailor who hasn’t made port in months. At least he isn’t speaking with his mouth full. Perhaps the Belmonts have raised their son properly after all.

…or perhaps he spoke too soon. Alucard is awakened rudely to the kitchen as Trevor is talking about goats launching flaming excrement. Not exactly a subject to be discussing during dinner. Trevor seems unaffected by it as he takes another bite of pheasant, but Sypha puts down her fork for a few moments.

“Trevor, I’m eating, I don’t need that imagery right now,” she says. Trevor laughs loudly. 

“Come on, Sypha, you were there, admit it, it was hilarious.”

Alucard drinks another sip of wine as Sypha giggles. “It was really funny,” she confirms, more so aimed at him than at Trevor.

Trevor scratches his chin. “Listen I can keep telling you about what we’ve been up to, but clearly something happened here, too,” he says. The abrupt change of subject is enough to make Alucard nearly choke on his wine. _What?_

“What have you been doing? How did you meet Maria?” Trevor asks.

Alucard breathes a sigh of relief. They don’t know… Of course they don’t know. He let himself get carried away by their warm presence, their voices. He’s more affected by their return than he had anticipated, more affected by them even if they’re just eating dinner together. Some part of him just wants to cry, either from the relief he’s feeling now or the remnants of the events last month, but simultaneously he knows he definitely doesn’t want to cry in front of Trevor. Maybe also not in front of Sypha. That’s… not helpful. Besides, it doesn’t feel right to just drop all his burdens on them the first time they speak in months. He would really prefer to just lay back and let them do the talking for now. _What’s taking Maria so long?_

“I’ve been restructuring the hold. A few weeks passed and Maria showed up.”

Trevor and Sypha share a look he can’t quite place. When Sypha looks at him again, she shakes her head disapprovingly. “My friend, you need a lesson in storytelling. There’s nothing there for us,” she says, not even trying to hide her disappointment. Trevor chuckles.

Alucard drinks another sip of wine and shrugs apologetically. “I’d much rather hear your stories.”

Trevor empties his mug of beer in one long draft, and nearly breaks it on the table when he slams it back down. “Right,” he says. “We have bad news and even worse news. Still want to hear it?”

Something in the air tenses, and Trevor and Sypha share another look. Sypha grimaces and Trevor looks serious, despite having had a good amount of alcohol. Alucard can feel a tight pressure on his chest as he sits up straight and puts down his glass of wine.

“Has something happened to you?” he asks. Trevor rubs the back of his neck and looks away.

A sudden focus comes over Alucard. He can feel panic stirring in his stomach, but he presses it down. Then the anger starts to set in, followed by a healthy dose of fear. If someone has tried to hurt them… _God, what if someone had managed to kill them and they had never returned to him?_ Or worse – what if only one of them had returned?

“Please. Tell me what happened,” he says. It takes him most of his self-restraint to not demand an answer, to know what it is that has happened to them so he can punish the ones responsible—but then Trevor looks at him again and starts talking.

Trevor talks for a long time. He repeats some of the stories from before, about how they were having _adventures_ and they were genuinely on the trail of Sypha’s group of speakers. Sypha cuts in here and there, she tells him how Trevor killed a man because he was rude to a cat; how they met a magician named Saint Germain; and how they made an entrance in Lindenfeld by dragging a dead creature of the night behind their cart and how it provided them with free food and a place to sleep for the night. Trevor cuts in again, tells her to not forget about the free beer, and despite the looming sense of dread in the air, Alucard laughs.

Trevor pauses for a moment. He pours himself another pint of beer and frowns. Alucard looks at Sypha, but she doesn’t pick up to complete the story where he left off. For someone who loves the sound of her own voice that much, it’s probably saying something.

“It all went wrong,” Trevor finally says. “We were asked by the town’s judge to investigate the monastery, because a night creature had entered there and hadn’t come out. It did something to the monks. We couldn’t get in, but for some reason the magician was allowed. A few nights later he told us of the creature that was hiding there. We decided to make a move, but it was too late.”

Trevor sighs deeply, Sypha touches his hand softly, encouragingly. Trevor looks up at her and smiles wryly.

“We should have realised it was bad much sooner. The houses were marked with alchemical symbols. Not even the magician seemed to think it was a problem. We should have sabotaged the markings, moved in on the monks who weren’t monks, burned the place to the ground with all the murderers in it.”

In the silence that follows, Alucard tries to figure out what to say. There are no words to ease such a burden. He wants to reach out to him, put a hand on his shoulder to relief some of the pain and tell him he doesn’t have to bear it all alone, but it seems pointless and he isn’t brave enough to do it. Sincerity can be a difficult at times.

“We moved too late. The night we decided to do something about it—” Trevor stops, his eyes sombre. “All the villagers—”

Trevor doesn’t need to continue for Alucard to understand the story. Alucard takes another look at Sypha, who keeps petting Trevor’s hand softly. He has never seen the man look so distraught before, never seen him so vulnerable. Alucard realises that this is what he himself should be doing, but he’s afraid of the consequences. However, the only reaction he has to Trevor and Sypha both in this moment is that he wants to hold them close and tell them everything will be alright, that it isn’t their fault, they did all they could and with the best intentions. Would they respond any different to him?

He doesn’t say it. Instead, he leans over and finds the courage to put his hand on Trevor’s shoulder.

“You don’t need to continue if you don’t want to, I think I understand,” Alucard says gently. Trevor looks a little surprised, but doesn’t push him away. He shakes his head, though.

“No, I need to finish this, it’s important you know,” he says. He shares another look with Sypha, and she nods quietly.

“The marked houses went up in flames,” Trevor continues, “and the souls of the people living there were used to fuel the portal that the night creature had opened. We were severely outmatched. The town’s guard, the men who came with us to stand up against the creatures and the false monks—”

Trevor’s voice trails off, and he looks at Sypha for help.

“Not a single one of them survived,” she says. “We closed the portal, but at a terrible price.”

The portal. It seems important to the story, but Alucard fails to understand why. A portal to what, hell? The future, the past? Is that why Maria came here, is that how her enemy entered this time-period? Or does the portal lead to the castle, perhaps? Alucard has limited knowledge of portals, even if his father had been very fond of them. He knows the castle made use of its infinite corridors before Sypha had broken the mechanism, but apart from that he has never bothered to read up on how to control it. It was his father’s castle, after all. It would only listen to Dracula.

The question still remained why they would go through so much trouble to create a portal. To summon more creatures of the night, to continue this wretched war on humanity? What for? _Dracula is dead_ , and so are most of the prominent vampire lords of the region, of the world. He hasn’t seen either of his father’s forgemasters, and they don’t need portals anyway. Was it a bid for some more power for the church? Evil and the divine combined, for what – a powerful weapon to intimidate the remnants of human settlements in the region, just for the sake of it?

“What was the portal for?” Alucard asks, when neither Sypha nor Trevor continues the story.

Trevor and Sypha remain silent for a moment, then share another look between them. It must be bad, he can tell, but he would rather hear the truth than have his mind spiral out of control as it is wont to do these days.

“Please tell me. My guesses might be worse than the truth,” Alucard says.

“Alucard… ” Trevor starts. He hesitates, stops, doesn’t finish the sentence. Really, it’s not helping him stay calm. Alucard looks at Sypha, wondering whether she will tell him.

“They opened a portal to hell,” Sypha says softly. “The monks were trying to resurrect Dracula.”

Alucard’s eyes widen for a moment, then he leans back in his chair and presses his hands together under his chin as he tries to collect his thoughts.

Well, he had been right about one thing. With Trevor and Sypha around he clearly doesn’t have to think about his own problems.

Hmmm. A cult made up of twisted clergymen and night creatures had tried to resurrect his father. Judging from the timeline in Trevor’s story, he had only been dead for about a month by then. If they would have succeeded, what then? From the last moments he shared with his father, he doesn’t really know what would happen if his father were to return so soon. Part of him wants his father to return, because part of him still hopes that Dracula could revert to the person he was when he was with Lisa. Another part of him tells him it’s wishful thinking, and Dracula should stay dead.

Alucard doesn’t know what to think. There’s no need to think about the what-if’s either – the portal was closed, Trevor and Sypha said so themselves. But all those lives lost…

Alucard can see Trevor and Sypha staring at him, their faces full of worry. He should say something to set their minds at ease.

“Well, my father isn’t here.”

He’s tired. He vaguely realises that, had he been with them, he would have had to think about sending his father back to hell once more, and suddenly he’s glad that he stayed at the castle. Killing two bastards of human beings definitely starts to sound like it was the better option for him.

Alucard sighs exasperatedly. The night has only just begun and it couldn’t possibly get any worse. _Where’s Maria?_

“My father isn’t here, so I’m assuming you fixed it.”

“Well, we didn’t do much,” Trevor says bitterly.

“That’s not true,” Sypha says. “Trevor defeated the creature by using both of his whips, it was incredible.”

Now Trevor blushes and a stupid grin appears on his stupid face. Even with the maudlin mood Alucard is in, his first instinct is to tease Trevor with it, but he reminds himself it took Trevor a lot of willpower to even get this far, and it doesn’t seem fair to tease him with this.

“Only after you had cleared the way by killing that winged demon,” Trevor says. He turns towards Alucard. “She’s absolutely crazy. At some point, I don’t know how she did it, she was _flying_ by shooting fire down from her hands. I’m telling you, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Sypha smiles brilliantly now. Just like that, the mood is lighter again and Alucard loves Sypha for it. 

“I am that good, aren’t I,” she says.

“Oh yes,” Alucard says.

“The best,” Trevor agrees. “Anyway. Saint Germain somehow managed to change the portal, then he vanished in it as the church was burning down. We got out, but barely.” Trevor touches his forehead, where Alucard can see a faded bruise. It seems to be healing nicely, but if it happened a month ago – it must’ve been a nasty bruise.

“And then there is the matter of the judge,” Trevor says. He sounds bitter. Sypha shifts in her seat, rubs her thighs.

“The judge?” Alucard asks. 

Trevor huffs. “He was the leader of the village in all but name. I trusted him, so I didn’t think much of it, but he had this key to the back room always on display on his table. In his final words he told us he had killed the prior, and sent us to an apple tree in the middle of the woods. It was surrounded by pikes, and prior Sala had fallen into the trap. Like many others before him.”

Alucard frowns. “You mean to say that he put traps there to kill the people he disliked?”

Trevor shakes his head. “Well, yes, but it was more than that. He urged us to burn down his house, but we checked the locked room. In it were the trophies of his kills. He was hunting them for sport, to stave off the boredom of living in a small village.”

“Hmmm.” It sounds like something his father might have done all those decades ago, or perhaps even a year back. Somehow it seems worse that a human would do such a thing to his own kind. Humans were capable of so many terrible things. He gives a single thought to Taka and Sumi, but waves it away. Instead, he sees Trevor and Sypha in front of him. _Perhaps the good far outweighs the bad_ , he thinks, _even if the bad can feel unbearable at times_.

“They were children,” Sypha says. “They were children and he killed them for walking the wrong way.” She seems incredibly upset about that fact alone. Understandably so.

“He was a horrible piece of shit and I trusted him,” Trevor says.

Then it dawns on Alucard. They both made a lapse in judgment, same as he.

It would be so easy to tell them now. They’ve met the worst of mankind, so has he. He could just tell them he was hunted down by two vampire hunters, so he had no choice. He tried to reason with them, but they wouldn’t yield even if he was the one to kill Dracula, even if he wanted to share his mother’s people’s knowledge to create a new generation of hunters capable of making a difference against the creatures of the night.

He can’t do it. He tells himself it’s because they’re tired and he doesn’t want to burden them even further. They’ve been through hell. In the end, the reason doesn’t really matter because the fact remains that he just cannot tell them.

“I’m sorry it happened to you,” Alucard says.

-

The silence that follows endures for a long time, but it doesn’t last forever.

“Well. That was most of our story,” Trevor says, seemingly light-hearted.

“Most of it?” Alucard asks. _Gods, there’s more._ _Just how much can go wrong in one month?_

“There’s a future problem, but if Maria’s going to be here we can just tell the story later. No need to tell that one twice,” Trevor says.

“Speaking of Maria… don’t think you’re getting away with this. Tell us more!” Sypha says.

_Maria… what’s taking you so long?_

“Very well. I was collecting food for dinner–”

Trevor interrupts him. “And you thought, this pretty lady is exactly what I want—”

“That would be a drink, get it together, Belmont.” It’s out before he can stop himself.

“Shhh! Stop it, Trevor, let him speak,” Sypha says. Trevor rolls his eyes at her and crosses his arms in front of him. He motions Alucard to continue, a smirk playing on his lips. _God, he still thinks he’s funny._

“When I heard shouting not very far away, in the woods.”

“It’s because you’re so—”

“Trevor!” Sypha chides.

“Alright, alright!”

“I’m beginning to think you’re not interested,” Alucard says. It’s clearly not true, but stalling for time is absolutely what he intends to do. He would much rather Maria tell this story.

“Yes, we _are._ Trevor is just going to continue drinking and not talking.”

Trevor grins and picks up his mug again. _No more distractions from him for a while now._

“There were two vampires, attacking a merchant’s cart just after dusk. I thought I would have to step in, but right about then one of them got showered by a sea of fireballs.”

“ _Nice._ ” Sypha says, hands excitedly coming together. “Is she a speaker?”

“No, I don’t think so. I haven’t asked, she hasn’t mentioned it. She summons a variety of animals who fight for her.”

Sypha nods. “I’ve heard of magicians with those abilities before. What animals does she summon? What can they do?”

“You should ask her that. I only know that the next creature she summoned was a gigantic dragon that swallowed the second vampire whole.” _There was also a tiger earlier today,_ he thinks. He’s still not sure why it was there in the first place.

Trevor chokes on his beer. Sypha interrupts her enthusiastic interactive listening for a quick glance in his direction.

“A fucking dragon? What the fuck,” Trevor says. Eloquent as ever.

“So why did she come home with you?” Sypha asks. If he didn’t know better – and, the question remained, did he actually know better? – he would say that she was prying for information as if she were _jealous_. He narrows his eyes at her, trying to see what she’s doing, but he’s tired and can’t figure it out.

“I was caught off guard and got stabbed by a magical dagger. Alucard saved my life.”

Alucard breathes a sigh of relief as finally Maria is standing in the kitchen. _That took her long enough._

“Oh,” Sypha says. “I’m sorry. That doesn’t sound nearly as fun as I thought the story might be, given that you’re a time-traveller. Are you recovering well?”

“Do you like our century?” Trevor asks.

Maria frowns and seems lost in thought for a moment. “I suppose it’s a good century, it has its highlights,” Maria says.

Alucard can’t help but smile at her answer. It’s vague and nondescript and it shuts up Trevor for a moment. Sypha stares at Trevor in disbelief, who then shrugs and drinks another sip of beer.

“Perhaps you can help me out, though,” Maria says, facing Sypha. “We’ve been trying to find the dagger in the books in the library, but there is nothing on it there at all. I need to know if this curse is dangerous.”

“Curse? I can take a look at the spellwork,” Sypha says. “I’m not great with curses, though.”

“What’s the curse?” Trevor asks.

“I have been having some nightmares lately. Plus there is this big scar on the right side of my body.” As Maria says it, she pulls her collar away from her neck and shows the black lightning scar to both Trevor and Sypha. Sypha grimaces and shakes her head. Trevor, on the other hand, nods thoughtfully.

“Do you have the dagger here? It seems awfully familiar.”

“It’s in the library, I’ll get it,” Alucard says. He walks out of the kitchen, shifts his way to the library, grabs the dagger and shifts his way back to the kitchen. When he returns, Maria has just barely sat down next to Sypha.

He hands the dagger to Trevor.

“Ah. The dagger of nightmares. Yeah, that sucks.” Trevor says. Instantly, Alucard turns to face Maria, whose face lights up.

“The dagger of nightmares,” Maria agrees, more so aimed at Alucard than anyone else in the room.

“It’s a horrible name for a dagger,” Alucard says dryly.

“I agree,” says Sypha, “it needs a better name.”

Trevor and Maria look at each other, and Alucard swears he can see an alliance forming right then and there. _There’s two of them, Gods help him._

“Sorry. Naming privileges are only for the stabbed people,” Trevor says.

“Agreed.” Maria says. “Wait, what?”

Trevor puts down his mug of beer and leans back in his chair. “I ran into some rookie vampire hunters some time ago, they made it themselves,” he explains. “They pissed me off and then they cut me. If some vampires had the dagger, I guess we know what happened to the hunters.”

“Were there any lasting effects from the dagger?” Alucard asks.

“Well, let me think. I couldn’t remember much for the next couple of days, had nightmares for about a fortnight, possibly even hallucinations but that’s hard to tell.” He tallies them on his fingers as he speaks. “No lasting damage, though, except for the scar.” Trevor pulls up his shirt and traces a short line right above his hip. There’s no sign of the black lightning.

What a relief. Still… “You named it the dagger of nightmares yet you’re certain there’s no lasting damage,” Alucard says, sarcasm oozing off of his voice in waves. Trevor narrows his eyes at him.

“Shut up,” Trevor says.

“Children,” Sypha sighs.

“A fortnight?” Maria asks, slightly defeated. She takes a deep sigh and bows her head forward, onto the table. Her long hair is spilling over the edges, hiding much of her face.

“But it won’t kill her?” Alucard asks, serious for now, vaguely aware of the fact Trevor is alive and well and wouldn’t be speaking to him if the dagger had killed him.

Trevor shakes his head. “No. You’ll live,” he says, patting Maria lightly on her head from across the table.

Maria looks up and smiles faintly. “Always good to know.”

Alucard tries to count back the days. Sometimes it feels like Maria has been here for months already, but it has only been just about a week. He really, really feels for her. The nightmares seem to get worse by the day, and they seem pretty awful already.

Alucard, too, moves towards Maria and places a hand on her head for a moment. Maria smiles a tired smile at him.

“Uh… I hate to be the bearer of bad news but,” Trevor starts, “now Maria’s here _maybe_ we should talk about that other thing that happened.”

Sypha sighs and shakes her head. “How about you drink some water, and I will tell this story,” she says.

Trevor rolls his eyes at her. “Don’t need to, Alucard has this great medicine that cures hangovers. Besides, I’m not that far gone.”

“No you’re not, otherwise we would’ve forgotten about this for today and I could’ve made my way to the bedchambers right about now.”

Trevor chuckles. “Okay, so you should start the story where you cut up the axe man because that was fucking savage,” he says.

“What was that?” Alucard asks. This sounds like something he would’ve liked to see.

Sypha looks amused for a moment, but turns serious again as she starts to speak. “We ran into some thugs two days ago. They were hired by Styria, apparently. The vampires want to close off the east of Europe from the west to facilitate a never-ending food supply. We need to prevent that from happening.”

Styria?

 _Carmilla_.

So she survived. He’d been surprised that she wasn’t at his father’s court when they entered the castle, especially since part of her guard had been there. Alucard pinches the bridge of his nose. Yet another threat. It makes sense that, with his father gone, there is a place a the top of the vampire pecking order. Carmilla seems the perfect candidate to fill it, cold and ruthless and calculating. Instead of a dread lord there would be a shadowy queen, dark and terrible as the cold winter night.

“Any idea on where to start with that?” Sypha asks.

“Currently? None at all,” Alucard manages to say. Gods, he’s tired.

“Hey, aren’t you a time-traveller? Can’t you just tell us what we should do?” Trevor asks Maria.

Maria grins and shakes her head. “Sorry, you didn’t make it to the history books. I have no idea what you did,” she says. Alucard can hear the faint arhythmic beating of her heart as she speaks. She’s lying, and judging by Trevor’s disappointed reaction, she’s getting better at it. She must know something. Alucard keeps his eyes fixed on her, and when she glances in his direction she quickly looks away and starts to study the palm of her hands intently.

For the sake of inner peace, however much he can get of that anyway, he will assume it means they managed to fix it somehow.

“Then it’s better to leave it until the morning. I’m too tired to think,” Sypha says.

“Right. Wait.” Trevor says.

They all look at Trevor, and wait for him to continue. He doesn’t.

“Yes, Trevor?” Sypha finally says.

“Where was I? Oh, the letter. You said something about grave danger, too. Let’s hear it now, the evening is already a fucking mess anyway.”

Right. The Dark Priest Maria spoke of. After everything he’s heard this evening, he’d almost forgotten about that.

“Maybe Maria should tell that story,” Alucard suggests, just as Maria hides a yawn behind her hands.

“I’ll give you the abridged version,” she says.

“I was going to the market back in my own time, 1802, when I met Aeon. He’s a Guardian of Time, and he sent me back here to deal with Shaft, a Dark Priest. He was supposed to be defeated in 1797, but apparently in his last efforts he managed to travel back through time, and he has been hiding back here.”

She pauses for a moment, checking to see whether they are still following her story. Alucard glances at Trevor quickly, who seems perfectly capable of understanding what’s been said. Trevor nods at Maria, encouraging her to continue.

“I must admit I have no idea where I need to start looking for him, much less what to do when I find him. I think Aeon can send him back to 1797 once he is weak enough, so that his death still occurs at the date it is supposed to occur.”

“The date it is supposed to occur? Isn’t it good enough to just kill him?” Sypha asks.

Maria shrugs. “I don’t know, apparently it’s important for the canon flow of time.”

“What’s that?” Trevor asks.

Maria shrugs again. “I’m not actually a time-traveller, I just agreed to help out and ended up here. My guess is that some things have to occur at certain dates, otherwise there might be paradoxes or something.”

“Right. But you’re not from around here, so why did he send you? Wouldn’t that create more paradoxes?” Sypha asks.

Maria rubs her neck and laughs nervously. “I’m pretty sure I’ve already created paradoxes, yes. Aeon hasn’t come to put me back yet, though, so I’m assuming it’s still good. As for why I should come here and deal with him…” She pauses, her face turns grim. “Well. I’ve met Shaft before, I know a little about him. Maybe that’s enough to defeat him.” She sounds pained. “Maybe he’ll come to the castle, or maybe the village nearby has some unsavoury stories from where we can pick up his trail. Now that there are horses, I thought we could go there, soon.”

There is silence for a moment as everyone is just trying to compute all the different threats they face at the same time.

“So,” Trevor says. “The full force of Styria on the one hand, and the threat of a Dark Priest on the other. Nothing we can’t handle, huh?” Even in his good-natured comment, the uncertainty creeps up in his voice.

Sypha still seems unsettled. “Right, of course. We can do that.” She now aims her attention at Maria again. “Just to be clear – when you say _Dark Priest_ , you mean…”

Maria looks sombre. “Apart from the nasty illusions and powerful magic spells that can incapacitate even the strongest warriors, Shaft’s a _Necromancer_. If we don’t find him fast, there are few limits to what he and his army of the dead can do.”

_-_

Necromancer.

_Necromancer._

_They’re facing a necromancer._

Alucard misses most of the conversation after that, panic spreading like poison to every fibre of his being. When Sypha gets up to go to bed, he welcomes it. Maria and Trevor follow her not long after, and he barely manages to keep up his calm façade as they walk out of the kitchen. As soon as their footsteps recede, he runs outside.

His blood is pumping through his veins quickly. He can hear it course through his body, his poor heart struggling to keep up with the demands placed upon it by the sheer terror he feels. The rush of it all echoes behind his ears like shots fired from a cannon in rapid succession.

Alucard walks to the back of the castle, where he so very recently placed two very dead and therefore immobile human bodies. He drags his feet to the dreaded place, unsure of what he will find, but he _has to know._ He has a very, very bad feeling about this.

When he reaches the spot, he freezes in place.

His premonition was right.

The bodies are gone.

-


	10. Safe Haven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: extremely self-indulgent fluff streak starting at this chapter, after yet another bit of angst. I have no excuse. (I'm still not entirely sure what angst and fluff mean, but I think this is it.)
> 
> Note on word etymology because I like that: "haven" and many other nautical terms in European languages and even in Russian are often related to Dutch words for these terms! :)

Maria wakes up with a scream, bathing in sweat. She feels scared, disoriented, and for a moment she doesn’t know where she is. In an instinct, she summons Genbu, who weaves a shield around her as she tries to steady her breathing.

That was a horrible nightmare. It felt just like that night a decade ago, when she was twelve and Shaft did something to her. It had unlocked her magic potential, but it hadn’t been a pleasant process. What a horrible man. This time, in her nightmare, there had been no Richter Belmont to save her from Shaft, and she became his puppet. She killed Annette, killed the other women who were captured, delivered them to the nightmare version of Shaft. Shaft, who had killed her parents, the Belmonts, and Alucard. There was no-one left alive.

_Where is Adrian? He’s always here._

Maria pushes the blankets away and steps in her shoes. She wipes the sweaty hair from her face, wet from tears. She didn’t know she had been crying. She wants to talk to Adrian for a moment, just a moment, and everything will be fine and she can go back to sleep.

With Genbu close by, she walks towards the library. The lights in the castle light up when she comes near and die down when she is out of range. It’s a little eerie. There are electrical lights in the house she lives in with Alucard, but they just work with light switches.

Maria checks her surroundings constantly, but this time there are no monsters in the shadows. Still, she keeps a close connection to the spirits, ready to summon them in an instant.

When she opens the doors to the library, she can’t see Adrian immediately. That’s strange.

“Adrian?” she asks. She waits for a moment, but there is no reply. Surely he must have heard her if he were near. She walks a bit further down the bookshelves to the corner near the hearth where the comfortable couches are, but there is no evidence of anyone sleeping there at all. Hmmm. Curious.

Then it dawns on her. Perhaps he has joined Sypha and Trevor in their bed. It would make sense, seeing as they are his current partners. Maria feels her chest tighten a little. It’s jealousy, she knows that, but she also knows there’s no point in being jealous. This isn’t her time, she isn’t supposed to be here.

She takes a deep breath, and lets it pass.

Fine, she needs a new plan. What to do with nightmares? When she was just a kid, her parents would take her to the kitchen and give her half a cup of tea and something sweet to eat. That doesn’t sound too bad now.

Maria exits the library and makes her way to the kitchen. She still holds on to Genbu. The castle is a scary place at night, perhaps even more so now it’s supposed to be a safe place. It was easier to traverse the castle when she knew it wasn’t safe, back in 1797, when she was there to find Richter. The silence of the hallways and the absence of monsters is unsettling and comforting at the same time.

It does help that the castle looks completely changed from when she was there previously. It’s not so much that it’s decorated differently – although that’s definitely part of the charm – but there are walls where there had been doors, and archways where there had been walls. The entire layout of the place is different. It’s very strange. Better not to think about it too much, she decides.

When she arrives in the kitchen, the lights turn on with the flick of a switch. Electricity is not something her parents had when she was younger, so it still marvels her from time to time. She’s fairly certain humans will crack that code sometime soon. For a moment, she’s really thankful to live with Alucard, who knows all these things already.

Maria puts another block of wood in the embers of the fire, and starts it up again. It takes a little while to get going, but there is nowhere else for her to be. Not much later she puts the kettle over the fire. She sits down at the kitchen table, and waits.

-

Maria pours the hot water in her cup, and fills it halfway. She doesn’t really know why her parents only filled the cup halfway when she was a child, but she likes the gesture now, so the cup gets filled halfway.

Then she hears something approaching in the hallway.

Quickly she puts the kettle back, and she summons Genbu again. The turtle seems agreeable to being summoned again, but it takes its time to follow her commands. Perhaps the noise is just a person approaching, then. Rationally, she knows there isn’t anything that can just enter the castle through the front doors without making a lot more noise than this, but Maria is still a little shaken from her nightmare.

Then she sees it’s Sypha who walks into the kitchen, and Maria lets go of Genbu.

Sypha is wearing a long shirt and has taken a small blanket with her, draped around her shoulders.

“Are you making tea? Because if you are, I would like some, too,” Sypha says. Maria nods and takes another cup from the cabinet. She pours it half-full with tea, and puts it in front of Sypha, who smiles approvingly.

“Thank you,” she says.

They sit in silence for a while, waiting for their tea to cool down enough for it to be drinkable. Maria studies Sypha’s features, whilst she can tell Sypha does the same to her. Sypha is very beautiful. Her short, red hair accentuates her small face. Her blue eyes seems small at the moment, but Maria can tell it’s because she’s tired now. What’s more, Maria can feel the pleasant pull of energy she often feels near other magic users. It’s a soothing presence, but at the same time it enervates her. All in all, Maria decides she likes being around Sypha.

“Your hair is very long,” Sypha says suddenly, “may I braid it?”

Maria didn’t expect her to ask that of all things, but she nods. Sypha gets up, rubs her hands together, and walks towards Maria. Sypha motions for her to sit down and strokes her hair a few times before picking up three small strands of hair on the left side of her face.

“I’ve not really had long hair after I was ten,” she says. “I do miss it sometimes.”

“I haven’t really had short hair since I was twelve,” Maria replies. “I also miss that sometimes, but it took years for it to be this long again. It’s such a commitment.”

Sypha’s slender fingers pick up small strands of hair as she goes along the left side of Maria’s head. Her mother used to braid her hair a lot when she was a kid, and years later it was Annette who insisted on doing it, too. Maria doesn’t mind. It’s nice to sit back whilst someone else is busy braiding her hair.

“We always used to braid each other’s hair,” Sypha says. “Most kids in speaker trains keep their hair long, and sometimes the parents of small children who stay in the safe havens let their hair grow out, too. It’s been so long since I’ve been around speakers with long hair.”

“Do you miss being around your people?” Maria asks. Sypha hands her a braid to hold whilst she moves on to the right side of Maria’s head, and starts a new braid.

“Yes and no,” Sypha says. “I like travelling with Trevor, mostly. I don’t think he would be at home in speaker camps.”

“But?” Maria asks.

“I miss my grandfather,” Sypha says simply. “I’ve never been apart from him this long.”

“I can understand that,” Maria says.

Sypha continues to braid her hair, and after a while she takes back the first braid from Maria’s hand and combines it behind her head with the second braid. She rips a piece of cloth from her nightgown and uses it to bind the two braids together.

“There. All done,” she says. She sits back down next to Maria and pulls her cup of tea towards her. Maria touches the braid on her head to feel how it sits. She could really use a mirror right now.

“Thank you,” Maria says.

-

Sypha’s head turns towards the door, and then Maria hears it, too. Someone else is approaching. Maria has half a mind to summon Genbu again, but Sypha stays calm, and Maria trusts her judgment.

Strangely enough, the silvery tip of Alucard’s sword enters the kitchen before he does. That’s when Maria starts to feel alarmed again, and she sees Sypha get up, too. Adrian enters the kitchen, looking like he’s seen a ghost.

“Alucard, what happened?” Sypha asks. Adrian stares at Sypha for a moment, then at Maria. The look in his eyes scares her. He’s terrified.

When he finally speaks, his voice trembles. “I think the necromancer might be close.”

Maria can feel her heart beating faster, even if she is trying to stay calm. Shaft is close? She can’t feel his presence, that’s alarming. She always feels magic users when they get close, like a small spot of energy dancing around nearby.

“Sit down,” Sypha says. “I don’t feel anything. Do you feel anything?”

Maria realises the question is aimed at her, and she slowly shakes her head.

As Adrian sits down, his sword resting on the table, Maria gets up and grabs another cup. She pours some tea in it, and sets it in front of him. He doesn’t pay any attention to it, his muscles tense and his hand hovering above the hilt of his blade.

Maria’s heartbeat doesn’t slow down even a little. She’s still alarmed from the look on his face. It can’t be good. She has never seen him like this before. He’s terrified. Something happened. She wants to ask, but Adrian suddenly gets up, spills the cup of tea, and readies his sword against an unnamed threat.

Then she hears it. Footsteps are coming closer, approaching the kitchen. Adrian’s terrified face combined with the nightmare still fresh in her mind awaken a small panic in her head. She summons Seiryuu, her spirit dragon, and holds him ready. Then she looks over to Sypha, who is now also adequately alarmed. The air around her smells of electricity as the magic on her fingertips glows blue. 

The footsteps come closer until finally a large, shapeless shadow makes its way around the corner. It’s not an illusion, the others can see it, too, or they wouldn’t have their weapons drawn. Adrian still has the scared expression on his face. He seems frozen in place, absolutely terrified. Sypha readies her hands, ready to strike at any moment. Maria aims her attention at the door.

Just as she is about to send Seiryuu forward, the silhouette unravels.

It’s Trevor, wearing a large cloak instead of his shirt.

He’s standing in the doorway, looking very confused.

“What the hell is going on?” he asks.

Adrian lowers his weapon and Sypha’s spell energy dissipates. Maria thanks Seiryuu for coming at her call, and he, too, vanishes.

Everyone turns towards Adrian. He still looks terrified, but something has changed and now he looks like he’s close to crying. Maria feels an uncomfortable pang in her stomach. Apart from a few days ago, she hasn’t ever seen Alucard cry. He rarely shows any emotion at all. Here now, the younger version of him might be different, but it still feels strange to see him so vulnerable. It must be bad, very bad.

“Alucard?” Sypha asks, softly.

Adrian takes a few moments. He looks around at the three of them, never meeting any of their eyes. Maria wonders what exactly he has told Sypha and Trevor already, and whether or not she should leave.

When he speaks, his voice sounds distorted, pained. “Two people came here to hunt me. I killed them, put them up on stakes to keep others out.”

Maria frowns at that. It makes her uncomfortable, but she makes an effort to hide that reaction very deep down. She knows from Alucard that he has done some things in his past that he regrets. Vampires apparently feel emotions so much more intense than humans do, and dhampirs, although they don’t really have any of the weaknesses of either humans or vampires, still have the side that feels emotions really strongly, or not at all. Alucard told her about how he went insane with grief after Sypha and Trevor had died, even if it was from old age. They had wonderful children who had sought to alleviate his pain, but he had been inconsolable, and after a year he doesn’t want to talk about he put himself to sleep for almost 200 years.

She’s made peace with his past, however little he wanted to talk about it. She always assumed there was more to it, but she knew not to push. She doesn’t hold it against him, it must be hard enough to be immortal when all his friends were human. She just never expected to be in the middle of something this painful to him. 

He barely wants to be touched… Did they get him, then? Did they hurt him whilst hunting him down? It seems unlikely. Adrian by now should be a master swordsman, skilled enough to defeat the most prolific vampire sword specialists. Yet the way he keeps his body distant from everyone around him tells her otherwise. _Oh Alucard, what did they do to you? How can I help you?_

Sypha seems similarly shocked, and she touches his arm. Adrian flinches, but he doesn’t pull back.

“There were no stakes when we arrived,” she says, voice still soft and careful. Right. _He had to clear out the lawn._ Maria feels a bit nauseous at the realisation. That is one way to put it. _Oh, Adrian…_

“I…” he tries so very hard to remain stoic, but she can tell he’s struggling. Maria can’t just watch it any longer, and decides to help him.

“I wanted to go outside, so you took them down,” she says. Adrian nods silently.

“You walked in here with your weapon drawn just now, talking about the necromancer,” Sypha says. Maria looks at both Trevor and Sypha, and she gets a bad feeling in her stomach. How would he know that, other than—

“Their bodies. They’re gone.” _Well. Other than that._

“Right. Okay.” Trevor says. “Assuming it’s the necromancer, we will just kill them again, right? Nothing we haven’t dealt with before.”

“Right…” Adrian says. He doesn’t sound convinced. Just what exactly did they do to upset him so? Trevor doesn’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation. Maria doesn’t blame him. She can imagine that Adrian is glad for the distraction.

“Why are you both up, then?” Trevor points at Maria. “Nightmares?”

Maria nods. Then he looks at Sypha. “Can’t sleep?”

Sypha nods. He’s spot on.

“Right,” Trevor says. “If the dark priest is close, we’re no match for him like this. We’re all going to bed right now and think this through in the morning. Understood?”

Adrian scoffs. “You go on ahead, I can’t sleep, haven’t slept for weeks. I’ll keep watch, it’s not safe.”

“You told me you were sleeping in the library! So that was a lie?” Somehow this is what makes Maria the most upset right now. She can’t believe this is where his incredibly stupid and stubborn behaviour originated. Has he never heard of asking for help? How did he manage to get Trevor and Sypha to help him defeat his father if he won’t fucking ask for it?

Maria can see Adrian’s eyes widen as he looks at her and snaps out of it. _Yeah, you better be intimidated right now, I am angry at you._

“Alright hotheads, you’re both tired and it shows.” Of all people, it’s Trevor who calms down the situation.

“Easy for you to say, you’ve no problem falling asleep,” Adrian sneers. Trevor looks at him darkly, but he doesn’t take the bait for a fight and ignores the outburst.

“You wanna know how I fall asleep each night?” Trevor asks, patiently. “I trick my mind into thinking I’m safe, even if I’m not, because I need my strength in the morning.”

“Okay, but I’m pretty sure I already think I’m safe. Nothing can get through these doors, I’m sure,” Sypha says, taking the opportunity to change the subject. Maria is still upset with Adrian, but she has a feeling that whatever has made Adrian sleep so little lately is eating away at him. She has no business to make it harder for him, but it pains her that he won’t take care of himself.

“Yeah, you think that, but not all the way deep down. You can’t just think it, you have to feel it,” Trevor says. “Do you understand?”

Sypha considers this for a moment. “Am I not feeling safe, then?”

“No, it’s like… you have more than one mind. One for the regular, rational daytime thinking, and one underneath that acts on instinct. I’ve acted so many times on instinct in fights, there are things I never could have done if I had just thought it through first.”

“That’s surprisingly accurate,” Adrian says. He sounds tired and looks at the walls rather than anyone in the room.

“Okay, so how do I feel safe, then? I just want to be able to sleep,” Sypha says.

Trevor shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“We were really all counting on you to tell us, Trevor,” Sypha says.

Trevor scratches the top of his head and makes an apologetic motion with his free hand. “Look. I might be the Belmont patriarch by name, it doesn’t mean I actually know what to do.”

Maria chuckles. She can’t help herself, it sounds so much like what Richter would say.

“How do you feel safe, then?” Sypha asks.

“I pretend I’m in the South of France, near the sea, standing with my feet in the warm water, fish swimming around as I look into the last rays of light coming from the sunset.”

“Have you ever actually been to France?”

Trevor looks at Sypha with a very sour face. “No, but that’s not the point,” he says, frowning. “Come on, you like telling stories. Got anything that helps you sleep?”

Sypha and Trevor share a look, after which Trevor blushes and grins. _Gross, get a room,_ Maria thinks amused.

“Maybe…” Sypha starts, to guide attention away from what just happened. “I saw a solar eclipse in 1463. We were travelling along the coast from Tripoli to Cairo, we were about halfway. I was young, but I clearly remember it to this day.”

For a moment, Maria is in awe of Sypha and her travels. She has never been to Africa, although she has heard of the marvels of that continent. To be young and be at the right place to see a solar eclipse… that’s incredible!

“There is a sense of peace that comes from a solar eclipse,” Sypha continues. “It doesn’t make me want to fall asleep, though.”

“Well, in my experience, lying next to someone is probably the easiest option to feel safe and fall asleep,” Trevor says, “but you were already doing that and it didn’t help much. Maybe try out the thinking thing and see if it helps.”

“Again, you might be right,” Adrian says. If anything, he sounds annoyed. _Good. Annoyed is a step up from terrified._

“What is that I hear? You’re agreeing with Trevor _again?_ Are you sure you’re alright?” Sypha teases. Adrian looks at Sypha with a dark expression for a moment, but then he smiles at her. It’s the first time the scared expression leaves his face.

“The brain releases all sorts of pleasant chemicals when people are close together, lying next to someone helps with that. It’s just science,” Adrian explains. 

Trevor grins. “What about Greşit? You seemed to be pretty comfortable there. How long did you sleep for, again?”

Trevor definitely sounds like he’s teasing Adrian now, and it takes Adrian a moment to think of a fitting reply. “A year. Coffins are very comfortable, maybe I should just do that,” he muses, completely serious.

He follows it up less seriously, by saying: “You should try it, it’s quite comfortable.”

Trevor’s smile widens as he folds his arms over his chest and shakes his head. “Uh, no thanks. I don’t like being in small spaces, it freaks me out.”

“The silence can be forgiving,” Adrian says, “but…” His words are cut off as he falters. He stares at the sword in his hands, struggles to find the words.

“I don’t think I want to be alone tonight.”

In the silence that follows, Maria can feel Trevor’s eyes on her. When she looks back at him, Trevor seems to signal something to her, and it leaves Maria terribly confused. Does he mean for her to stay with Adrian? Why? Isn’t he supposed to be in love with Adrian already? Why signal to her that she should be the one?

She thinks back to what Aeon told her. It’s still fuzzy, but she can clearly remember the part where he said that _Things that were supposed to happen, didn’t._ He wasn’t just talking about Shaft’s death, was he.

She raises an eyebrow at Trevor, nudges him to go for it, but he doesn’t seem to understand.

Ah. She sees how it is. She has her work cut out for her. Before she leaves to get back to her own time, she’ll make sure that Trevor and Sypha will stay with Adrian.

“You know, I’m pretty sure Adrian’s bed is big enough for the four of us. We can just. All camp out there tonight. Barricade the bedroom doors until morning in case Shaft is close,” Maria suggests.

“I have no objections,” Sypha says, agreeing very quickly before either Adrian or Trevor can protest. “I’ll tell the enchanted armour to stand guard.”

“I can send out some owls to check on the area outside the castle,” Maria says, hoping to drag this conversation further down the chosen path before anyone can object to it.

Trevor and Adrian look at each other momentarily before Trevor sighs dramatically and shrugs. _Methinks the lady doth protest too much. Good._

“I’m never sleeping without my weapons close anyway,” Trevor says.

And with that, it’s settled. Maria checks to see whether Adrian is okay with it, since he doesn’t speak much. Again he seems to struggle with what to say. Then Maria catches his eye as he looks at her.

“Thank you.”

-

It’s a little crowded in bed, but definitely still manageable. The bed is slightly too small for four people, and ideally they should be in a bed just half a person bigger, but from what Adrian says only his father’s bed was ever that large and he won’t sleep in that. If only Trevor would have slightly less broad shoulders it might fit, too, but it was kind of a given for Belmonts to be that broad. Either way it isn’t uncomfortable, but if Maria would be lying any closer to Adrian she would be inside him. Sypha is all but crushed between Trevor and Adrian, but she definitely doesn’t seem to mind.

Maria hesitates for a moment, but since there have been no signs of Adrian flinching at any of their bodies touching him in bed, she figures it’s fine as she cuddles up closer to him. It’s always a little warmer in bed when she shares it with someone, including Alucard, but now she can tell that he’s not the same temperature as Sypha or Trevor. He’s a little cooler to the touch. She never noticed it before.

She can tell he’s still awake as he caresses her shoulder briefly. In return, Maria wraps her arm around his chest and can feel her hand brush another. Trevor’s hand, judging by the size of it. Maria thinks he might already be asleep.

“Think you might fall asleep now?” she whispers to Adrian softly.

“Surely I’m already dreaming,” he hums, content.

“Sleep well, Alucard.”

“Good night, Maria.”


	11. Upstairs and Downstairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe this should have been two chapters but I kinda like them together :)

Trevor wakes up next to Sypha. She’s snoring lightly and has taken a hold of Alucard, who lies almost perfectly still as if actually dead, save for the rhythmic up-and-down of his chest. He’s not entirely sure how long they’ve been sleeping, but Sypha’s feet are warm, which probably means they’ve been there for a long time.

He presses closer to Sypha, wraps his arm around her and in the process places his hand on Alucard’s chest. He wonders if it’ll wake them, but nothing happens. Sypha is still snoring softly and Alucard’s chest continues its peaceful up-and-down motion.

How did he get away with proposing this, he wonders. How did he, of all people, end up as the designated wise person in the group? In all fairness, it had been Maria who actually spoke the words out loud, and he isn’t sure why but he’ll take whatever he can get. He has never been this close to Alucard without being in a fight with him, he’d do better to appreciate it whilst he still can. God, he should really talk to Sypha. This isn’t just a night-time fantasy anymore. She’s the best damn thing that has ever happened to him, and here he is, somehow still wanting more. _Two months of some sort of stability have made you greedy, Belmont._

When he looks over to the other side of the bed, he can’t see Maria. She must have gotten up already.

Trevor thinks back to the previous day. Alucard actually seemed like he was going to break over telling the story of how he was hunted down, that was new. If there was a contest of who could hide their true emotions down in the deepest of depths, Alucard would be the undisputed winner. He could joke and laugh at superficial stuff, but other than that, Trevor doesn’t think he’s even scratched the surface on who Alucard really is. From the start he had wondered if his stoic demeaner could ever change, he had expected some sort of reaction when his father had died, and apparently the answer was _yes it could_. However, if this was the way it was supposed to go, he wishes he didn’t have to see it happen.

Still, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. He suspects Alucard has taken the time to grieve for his parents, and that he hasn’t done so in front of him and Sypha, sure, he can get behind that. It’s personal, such grief. Better not to share it with the people who helped him murder his father. Hell, he hasn’t even begun to tell Sypha about his family, though she asks. He understands.

What he doesn’t understand is why this particular instance of humans trying to hunt Alucard down would trouble him so. What, did Alucard think perhaps he and Sypha wouldn’t want to be around him anymore? That’s stupid. Hasn’t he just told him how Sypha murdered a man right in front of him, how they murdered a bunch of faulty priests back in Lindenfeld? He’s pretty sure Alucard has murdered less people than Trevor himself has. He must admit, the stakes in front of the castle sound a bit ominous, but hey, can’t be the son of Dracula without a little bit of dramatic flair, surely. He’s seen the throne room. God, what an absolute dramatic bastard Dracula must have been.

Still. To save humankind only to be hunted down by them. Trevor can relate to that. It’s awful.

Trevor takes another look at Sypha and Alucard, still sleeping soundly. He feels a pleasant feeling in his stomach when he looks at them. It is only disturbed by the growls coming from said stomach. He’s incredibly hungry. He doesn’t think it possible after the massive feast from the previous evening, but yeah, he’s definitely hungry again. With regret he realises that he should get up and walk downstairs towards the kitchen if he wants to do something about his hunger.

 _Just a little while longer_ , he thinks. Sypha and Alucard look so peaceful, asleep. He hasn’t seen Sypha like that in a long time, hasn’t seen Alucard like this ever. His hand still placed on Alucard’s chest, he notices that Alucard’s skin is cooler than Sypha’s, but still somehow equally soft. Ugh. That shouldn’t be allowed. The man is all lean muscle and built rock solid like you would expect from a vampire, he shouldn’t be soft at the same time.

Trevor moves his hand away. He picks up a strand of Sypha’s hair and tucks it behind her ear. He’s really going to get up now, his stomach urges him to find food, and to find it fast. He presses a quick kiss on Sypha’s forehead and rolls out of bed.

He quickly changes into a fresh shirt and proper pants and heads downstairs.

-

He could smell the scent of freshly baked bread from the moment he left the bedroom. When he enters the kitchen, he is just in time to see Maria pull a loaf of bread out of the oven. It looks amazing, much better than the stale bread he and Sypha had been living off of on the road. The bread with the leftovers from the previous day should make a proper breakfast for once.

“Good morning,” Maria says, after having put down the bread.

“Morning,” Trevor says.

“I wanted to get eggs but I can’t open the front doors,” Maria says apologetically. Really, after the smell of that bread, there is no need for her to apologize for anything. He should also still think about thanking her somehow for actually suggesting to all sleep in the same bed, because he doesn’t think it would have turned out like this if he had suggested it himself. It sounds wildly inappropriate in his head, though.

Instead, he says: “Can’t you summon dragons? They can surely do that for you.”

Maria frowns at him. “…I can’t open the front doors _without irreparably damaging them_.” Trevor grins. Given the circumstances, that would be a bad idea.

“I’m sure he’ll open them when he finally wakes up,” Trevor says, pointing his hand towards the ceiling. Supposedly that’s where the bedroom is located.

“I had no idea he hadn’t been sleeping for so long, he told me he had been sleeping in the library off and on,” Maria says. It seems to really bother her.

“Hmmm. He’s just taken a nap for a full year, I’m sure he’ll be alright,” Trevor says. “Wonder how he’s been able to stay awake for so long, though,” he muses. Short answer? Probably blood.

“Yeah,” Maria says, slightly uncomfortable. She pauses for a moment, then shakes her head. “Well. What’s done is done. Can I interest you in some tea?” she asks. Trevor shows a look of faint disgust.

“I don’t drink tea,” he says.

“I would offer you coffee but it’s not around yet,” Maria jokes. _What the hell is coffee?_ “Water, then?”

“Yes, thanks,” he says.

Maria fills up a glass of water at the tap and hands it to him as she sits on the opposite side of the table. They eat their breakfast mostly in silence. Trevor would talk, but he’s just so god-damn hungry. Maria clearly has other things on her mind, too, because she eats very slowly and she stares out of the window constantly.

When Trevor can feel the hunger has passed, he decided to make an effort at conversation.

“What is life like in the nineteenth century?” he asks. Maria takes a break from staring out of the window and looks at him now.

“It’s… different, I imagine. The world is bigger, times are changing. They are building machines in England that burn coal and take away work from manual labourers. I think we’re on the brink of something big.”

“And they have coffee,” Trevor adds, still unsure of what it is.

“And there is coffee,” Maria affirms, sipping her tea.

“What is coffee?” Trevor asks.

“It’s a drink made of coffee beans and it wakes you up in the morning. It’s bitter, but great with some milk in it.”

“Sounds… interesting,” Trevor says, by lack of a better word. “But you know, Alucard has self-lighting lights, the castle moves on its own accord – maybe he also has coffee, I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Maria’s eyes light up. “You are a genius! I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Some time-traveller you are,” Trevor teases.

Maria smirks and takes the bait. “Rude. But then again, didn’t expect anything else from a Belmont.”

“Hey, now—” Trevor starts. She smiles at him smugly as she sips her tea again.

“Are there… Belmonts in the future?” Trevor asks, serious now.

Maria chokes on her drink.

When she speaks, she says: “I can neither confirm nor deny it. Time travel rules, I don’t make them.”

“Right, but you just said you didn’t expect anything else from a Belmont. That seriously implies that there are—”

“Okay okay, I get it, I suck at time travel! Honestly I don’t know why I’m here—”

Trevor smirks, decides to go easy on her for a moment. “I would choose someone who summons dragons as my champion if I were the God of Time.”

“Guardian of Time,” Maria inserts dryly. Well, so far for complimenting her.

“Whatever. How did you get to be his champion, anyway? Can you tell me that?”

“I suppose…” Maria seems troubled. “Okay, so. There was this… house, or maybe it was a plain, I don’t remember exactly. Aeon had summoned a number of people there from all different times and all different places and all different… _persuasions_ , and they were going to fight each other. The last person standing was supposed to confront the Time Reaper.”

“That sounds fun,” Trevor remarks. By fun he definitely means cruel and sadistic. What a horrible place to be. What’s more, he’s pretty sure that he’s had a nightmare very similar to what she’s describing, but he can’t quite remember.

Maria shrugs. “I don’t remember being actually hurt during the fighting. It all seems like a bad dream when I think about it.” Right. Because the dagger of nightmares isn’t giving her enough bad dreams already. Seriously, how can she be this calm about it all?

“When you say a number of people were there, you mean people who could potentially fight the Time Reaper?” Trevor asks.

“Yes,” Maria says.

“Was I invited or..?”

Maria’s eyes grow wide at the realisation, and not long after she buries her face in her hands. “I’m the worst time-traveller ever.”

Trevor laughs. “I’m assuming that’s a yes.” Does that mean he was there, too? He just can’t remember it? What the fuck was the Time God doing with his life?

“I can neither—”

“Alright, that’s fine,” Trevor says. “I’ll draw my own conclusions. Continue.”

“Well. After I beat every single person there—”

“Including me?” He really doesn’t want to believe that she did, although it is probably very much possible. She looks at him darkly with one eyebrow raised, something Alucard does far too often too. He’s calling it now: this is Alucard’s future wife. She’ll probably not say it directly because of time-travel yada-yada, but he’s calling it right now.

“Every single person and one extremely well in particular—”

“Rude,” Trevor says. Maria smiles for a moment.

“I defeated the Time Reaper and everyone was restored to their own lives without memory and Aeon gave me a gift and we went on our way. The end.”

“A gift?” Trevor asks. “What did he get you?”

Without missing a beat, Maria says: “Bigger tits.”

Trevor swallows and starts coughing uncontrollably. Maria smirks, she seems very satisfied with the result of her answer.

When he’s done coughing, and definitely not staring at her tits because he was raised better than that, he says: “So. Let me get this straight. After you defeated the Time Reaper, the _only_ gift you got from Aeon were some bigger tits?” He makes the gesture with his hands.

“Yes.”

Trevor bursts into laughter. He had a feeling Maria was smart, but he didn’t know she was also dumb at the same time. What a thing to ask of the God of Time when you can ask for anything. When he eventually stops laughing and looks at Maria, he can see that she seems very amused by his reaction.

“Well,” Trevor says, “we can’t all be blessed with tits like Alucard’s.” Now Maria starts giggling.

“They are pretty great, aren’t they.” They both snicker for a bit.

“Seriously though, why not ask for anything else?” Trevor asks.

Maria hums. “You must understand,” she says, “I was a child when I was called upon by the Guardians of Time. I was raised in fighting creatures of the night, but definitely not like that.”

Trevor smiles sympathetically. He can understand that all too well.

“I just—don’t know. I’ve never really talked about it before, because the memory hasn’t ever been this clear. I need to—gather my thoughts,” she says.

“Gather all the thoughts you need,” Trevor says. Maria shakes her head at that, but she can’t seem to hide her smile.

“I sure hope he isn’t listening,” Maria mumbles. Who, the Time Lord? No, God? Guardian?

“I acted more childish in order to survive, in the hope that people would underestimate me. I think… yeah, I’m pretty sure I remember fighting Sypha, and she didn’t expect me to fight the way I did. It’s good to be underestimated,” Maria says. “As for why I chose my _gifts_ …”

Trevor smirks. An excellent way to refer to boobs, he wonders what Alucard thinks of it. He should definitely ask.

“When have the Gods ever been kind to mortals, even the ones who do their bidding? The entirety of Greek mythology is littered with victims of hubris. For as far as I know, Aeon turned out to not be an asshole – but I didn’t know that back then.”

Oh. That sounds far more serious than he had expected. And here he thought it was going to be a funny story.

“So you really could have asked for anything, then?” Trevor asks. Maria nods. “I’m sure there are gifts that can be more useful than, well.” He doesn’t say it even though he really wants to.

“Well, what gift should I have asked for, then?” Maria asks. “Prophecy? Would you really want to know your own future, the moment you die? Or what if he’d altered the deal, like how Apollo cursed Cassandra to speak the truth whilst no-one would believe her? Or Tithonos, cursed to live forever without the strength to even move his arm?”

These names would probably mean something to Sypha. Trevor just nods as if he knows what she’s talking about.

“What about riches? Or invincibility in a fight, then?” he suggests.

“Riches like what, make everything I touch turn into gold? I’ve heard that one before. For invincibility I’m pretty sure he could’ve turned me into a rock. Rocks are invincible.”

Maria sure sounds like she knows what she’s talking about.

“Yeah, wouldn’t want to turn into a rock,” Trevor says, trying to stay serious but by God this is more than he bargained for early in the morning. “You could have asked for a favour to be granted later,” he tries.

“Then I would worry about it until the day I died,” Maria replies.

“What about… happiness?” Trevor asks.

That makes her think for a little while, perhaps she’s mulling it over in her mind. Then she shakes her head. “Pretty sure happiness means nothing without occasionally being sad.”

“Very well. Can’t you just refuse his gift?”

Maria seems alarmed and shakes her head. “That’s rude, I’m pretty sure that’s an insult.”

“A nice sword?”

“Do I look like I use swords on a day to day basis? Then it just turns into an heirloom, and if I were to have any descendants they would have to keep it safe if he were cruel.”

“Bring someone back to life?”

“That’s what got us into this here mess, isn’t it?”

Trevor grumbles. Fine, she wins. This is just like—well, just like arguing with his eldest sister, Juliette. For a moment he misses her immensely. He waves it away, in favour of the current conversation.

“How come bigger boobs sound like the smartest option here?”

Maria grins, makes a pretend-bow with her hand.

Trevor rolls his eyes at her. “I can’t believe you’ve made boobs sound boring and responsible. _Thanks, Maria.”_

“Oh you’re very welcome, Richt— I mean Trevor.”

-

Sypha turns in the bed, trying to find something to hold on to. She can tell the day has already begun as the light seeps in from the windows. She tries to find Trevor, but when she looks from under the lids of her eyes, she can’t find him. He must have gotten up already. She turns around again, finds Alucard’s head with her hand as she accidentally smacks him in the face.

She hears a muffled groan coming from Alucard as he grabs her hand and moves it off of his face, down to his shoulder. “Hmmm. Sorry,” Sypha mumbles sleepily. She makes use of the opportunity to cuddle up closer and buries her face between his torso and the blankets. There’s no need to wake up early today, and she intends to stay in bed for as long as she can.

Besides, she has a feeling that Alucard can use some quality hugs, and she’s there to deliver. He would never ask, she knows that much, but really, that makes her staying in bed just that much more important. Check and mate. She’s staying here forever.

She can feel her thoughts drift off again.

When she wakes up the second time, she can feel Alucard lying very, very still under her, as if he’s pretending to be dead. Sypha wonders if that’s just what vampires do, or that he’s trying not to wake her, or that he’s just a bit uncomfortable.

“Good morning, Alucard,” she says, still hiding her face against his side.

“Good morning, Sypha,” he replies. “Did you sleep well?”

Sypha sighs deeply. “Yes, you have a very lovely bed. Where are Trevor and Maria?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t hear them leave.”

Sypha hums. “Ah yes, we’re the ones with the most trouble sleeping. It’s our bed now. If they come back, we’ll kick them out.”

“What if they come back with freshly baked bread?” Alucard asks wishfully.

“Pfffff.” _As if that’s ever going to happen._ “Still gonna kick them out, no food in a good bed like this.”

Alucard chuckles. “I thought speakers wouldn’t care for such things,” he says. She can tell he’s only teasing.

“You assume too much. I thought you of all people would know better not to generalize a group of people.” She’s not awake enough to even pretend to be angry. Alucard laughs softly.

“Hmmm. You’re right, I’m sorry.”

It’s been a while since Sypha has stayed in a comfortable bed. The bed in the guestroom was nice, too, but something about sleeping in this cold and lonely castle had kept her awake. Not that she felt lonely with Trevor sleeping next to her, but she isn’t used to sleeping in a quiet space. On the road, the trees are filled with birds and insects, or in the winter the wolves in the mountains would howl and provide some background noise to distract her long enough to run away from her thoughts and fall asleep. The castle was strangely quiet, with only the wind blowing in the background, howling against the solid walls, never getting any purchase on the building.

Here, at least there had been the sounds that come from multiple people breathing, stirring in their sleep, mumbling short sentences under their breath while they were dreaming. It had taken her a while to fall asleep, but she was certain Alucard had been awake for the same amount of time, if not longer. Probably with good reason. She had never seen him look so terrified as the night before.

“How are you feeling today? It took a while for you to fall asleep,” Sypha says.

“You could only hear it if you were awake yourself,” Alucard says slowly. 

“You’re absolutely right but I asked you first, don’t go changing the subject,” Sypha says gently.

Alucard doesn’t respond to that immediately, but Sypha’s certain he’s heard her. He tenses a little. When Sypha opens her eyes to look at him, she can see he has his eyes closed, his head turned away from her.

“Look, if you don’t want to talk that’s fine too, I just thought—” Sypha starts. Alucard turns to look at her.

“Can’t we just lie here for a while, I’m not ready to face the day yet,” he says. It’s probably the most vulnerable he has ever shown himself to be, apart from the previous night, so Sypha decided to let him be. Besides, it gives her more time to stay in bed. With him. There’s nothing she can think of that would justify stopping that.

“Yeah. Sounds good,” she says. She pulls up her knees and curls up her body as she wraps her arms around him. This time, he hesitantly wraps a singular arm back around her. He pets her hair softly. Sypha closes her eyes again. _This is nice._

Initially she’d thought he might be colder, seeing as he was half-vampire, but he was still plenty warm. He wasn’t as warm as Trevor, though. It had been strange to be stuck between them during the night, one side of her body trying to get warmer and the other side trying to balance it out by getting a little colder. In the end, the sheets had evened out the temperature difference, just as she was falling asleep.

“I do hope Belmont is being nice to Maria,” Alucard says.

Sypha snorts. “Oh, please. I’m more worried about him. She’s insanely well-read and Trevor… isn’t.” Alucard laughs softly. She should probably clarify. “Don’t get me wrong, Trevor is pretty smart, I’ve just never met a woman as smart as Maria outside of the speaker clans.”

As she says it, there is a mental image of Maria roasting Trevor in her mind, just like Alucard tended to do when they were on the road together. She’s really perfect for him, Sypha realises with a pang of jealousy. Still, she hasn’t actually spoken to either Trevor or Alucard about potentially starting a relationship with the three of them. She has no idea if they would be open to trying anything like that. She tries to picture Trevor and Alucard kissing each other. She would like to see it happen in her lifetime, but it doesn’t feel entirely real to her. Perhaps if they could both get their heads out of their asses and be _nice_ to each other, it might help. On the other hand, she has seen them laugh together a lot. And when she had been subtly talking about Alucard to Trevor pretty much at least once on every single day of their travels – _yes, great job, not entirely the definition of subtle, Sypha_ – Trevor had never gotten upset, so that was a starting point. It could also mean he had been entirely oblivious to her meaning, of course.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. Maria is here, she is a time-traveller, they missed their chance. Sypha holds on to Alucard a little tighter. That’s not wrong, right?

“I’m sure he is,” Alucard says. She can’t tell if he’s being sceptical or genuine.

“You know what he said to me,” Sypha starts. Alucard shifts a little. Perhaps he feels this is wrong, too. Sypha brushes the thought away quickly. He still can’t read her mind. For all he knows, she’s just half-asleep.

“I don’t,” Alucard says, as she remains silent.

“After everything he’s been through… as a kid, as an adult. When I lie awake at night because of the horrible judge in Lindenfeld, Trevor, he…” Somehow it’s hard to say it. Why is it hard to say this? She feels her heart start beating a little faster and doesn’t know exactly how to continue. Alucard thumbs through her hair gently, and she feels herself calm down. “He never blames them. He blames the church, the people who went out and killed his family, but no-one else. Except… I think he blames himself for not being strong enough to protect the people he cares about, for trusting the wrong person in Lindenfeld, for opening up to an absolute devil of a human being.”

Sypha considers her own words again. Trevor may not be the kind of smart that she is, but he’s smart in so many other ways, and skilled at what he needs to be skilled at. She loves him so very much.

“Yes innocent people can be made to do terrible things, or stand by and let terrible things happen,” she continues, echoing Trevor’s words, “but most people are just trying to live their lives, have children, get food on the table at night, sing, dance, drink beer, and be happy.”

Alucard remains silent for a little while.

“Trevor said all of that?” Alucard asks. His voice sounds off, wavering. Sypha can’t remember Alucard ever called Trevor by his first name. What’s more, she can feel his chest shock and tremble a little.

When she looks up at Alucard, he’s crying. It shocks her for a moment. Then she moves her hand up and touches his right cheek gently, wiping away some of his tears. It’s the first time she sees him actually cry, and she isn’t even sure why he’s crying.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“Don’t apologize, stupid,” Sypha says. “It’s alright.”

Then Alucard pulls the sheets up to over his head and he disappears. Sypha can’t stop herself from laughing at that. “Don’t you try to get away from me!” she says, but she gives him the space he so clearly wants right now.

She can see the covered shape of his head, and she pets the sheets. Alucard starts talking, but it’s muffled by the weight of the blankets and hard to understand.

“I gave away my trust too easily, too,” Alucard says.

Sypha sighs. Finally, he speaks. She was right, something else happened. Just two vampire hunters hunting him down would be awful, but she was certain it wouldn’t cause Alucard to tense like this a month after he had killed them.

She remains silent, waits for him to talk again. He mumbles something under the sheets. She really can’t hear him now.

“Listen. Either I’m getting under there, or you’re getting up here because I can’t hear you like this,” Sypha says. Alucard makes no effort to move, so she moves under the blankets. He turns his face towards her. God, his eyes are beautiful. _What is she doing? She should talk to Trevor soon, because at this rate she’s going to kiss him within the next few days_.

“I just… don’t know where to start,” he says, voice close to breaking. Sypha wants to comfort him and reaches out to touch him, but Alucard grabs her hand in a quick reflex and his eyes are shifting. _Oh no._ Sypha has seen that look before in over a dozen women in her lifetime. Her heart shatters. _They never should have left. Stupid, selfish speaker. No story was this important._

“It’s not your fault,” she says instinctively, looking him in his eyes as she feels his hand around her wrist. It’s tight and it hurts, but then he releases her. She tucks her hand under her head and makes no attempt to touch him again for the time being.

“I’m sorry,” he says, a little shocked perhaps by his own actions.

“I’m sorry, too, for leaving,” Sypha says.

Alucard looks at her weirdly. “No, don’t – don’t blame yourself,” he says. “I don’t blame you.”

“But you blame yourself?” Sypha asks. Alucard looks away, hides his face.

“I don’t know,” he finally manages to say. It’s very loaded. There’s a lot that goes unsaid, but Sypha knows not to push this.

“I killed them,” Alucard says. “I had no choice. It was them or me.”

Sypha nods. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re still alive, I’m glad you’re here today,” she says. He grabs her closer and buries his head in her chest, crying silently. She strokes his hair, makes an occasional shushing noise, but doesn’t speak.

After a while, his body goes still, his breathing steadies.

“For a moment I could sympathize with my father,” Alucard says, his voice grim and tired. “I killed him to save my mother’s people and in return they betrayed me.”

Sypha doesn’t even know where to start. _We’re not all bad, I swear. It’s mostly that people are uneducated, and that’s not their fault!_ But lately, with Lindenfeld, she feels little in the way of defending humankind as a whole. Trevor is better at this. She knows Trevor thinks he isn’t good at talking, but he’s damn good at defending people and he knows when to just be silent, something she still struggles with sometimes.

“People can be absolute scumbags,” she says darkly.

“Isn’t this the part where you say that not all people are scumbags?” he asks.

“Well, you need to speak to Trevor for that at the moment,” Sypha says. She would love to help, but she can’t lie to him.

He levels with her, looks her in the eye now. His cheeks are a little red, and it looks like he’s a little embarrassed. Sypha’s sure that she doesn’t still look as aethereal after a good cry. “Sorry for dumping this all on you,” he says, “I know you went through something terrible, too.”

“You really don’t need to apologize,” Sypha says. She’s glad that he would actually talk to her about it. “Have you told Maria yet?”

“No,” Alucard says. “I might but… I only met her after it all happened. I don’t… I _didn’t_ trust her.” Alucard sighs as he says it, bends his head. Sypha guesses there is some guilt or shame there.

“That’s completely understandable,” Sypha says. She would even argue it was a perfectly healthy response. After all, he was just trying to keep himself safe.

“Asking you to get here was Maria’s idea, though,” Alucard says, contemplatively. “I was half afraid I might be leading you into a trap.”

Sypha grins. She’s fairly certain that, if it had been a trap, they would have no trouble defeating one singular woman with her spirits. If they could defeat someone like Dracula and his most highly ranked generals, Maria would not be a problem.

Moreover, she and Trevor had already been on their way back, anyway. And she was fairly certain Maria was just a total sweetheart. So really, that was a lot of worrying about something that was inevitably going to happen the way it happened, whether or not he had asked them to come around. The only difference to her was that she knew they were actually welcome, and Alucard valued their friendship enough to have them help him through this.

“I thought you didn’t want to tell us last night because you were afraid we would think you were going down the same path as your father after killing two humans,” Sypha says. “I had this whole speech prepared about how I killed a human scumbag on top of like, at least ten demonic priests. I didn’t feel bad about it, and I still don’t. All I can think of is that they don’t go ahead and kill children.”

Alucard looks wary, shakes his head. Sypha gets out from under the covers and takes a deep breath.

“I understand why you did it,” Alucard says as he gets out from under the covers, too. For the first time that Sypha’s met him, his hair is a complete mess. She giggles.

“And I understand why you did it,” she says. “Maybe we should expand the business, huh? Just get rid of every son of a bitch that’s an asshole,” she jokes.

Alucard smiles at her. “I don’t think Trevor and Maria would agree,” Alucard says. “I’m not sure I do, either.”

Sypha smiles. Just like Trevor. After everything he’s already gone through at his age, he seems willing to give the world another chance. “Yeah, I don’t think I agree, either.”

“I’m really glad you’re here, Sypha,” Alucard says. When he smiles at her, his eyes smile along, and suddenly the room feels a lot warmer for it. Sypha smiles back at him.

“I’m glad to be here, too, Alucard.”

-

Alucard waits outside of his bedroom for Sypha to get dressed. As he sits down next to the door, he realises he feels so much lighter than he has the past few months. He takes a deep breath to get rid of the tension in his stomach. For the first time in a long time, it feels like it’s helping.

He doesn’t have to wait long for Sypha to appear in the doorway, fully dressed and refreshed. Her eyes look big and bright as she smiles. She seems far more energetic than the previous day and Alucard is glad to see her like that.

“Alright,” she says, “let’s go, I’m starving!”

As they walk through the hallways and down the stairs, Alucard can feel Sypha brush her hand past his a few times. The first time it happens it takes him by surprise. It takes him a moment to figure out what’s happening, but then he takes a step to the right to give her a little more space. He doesn’t want to intrude on her personal space.

The second time it happens, he’s a little confused. Didn’t he _just_ take a step away to give her the space she needs? He looks to Sypha for answers, but when she catches his eye she just smiles at him.

Oh. It doesn’t bother her, then. Maybe it’s just what friends do, get up in each other’s personal space. He hasn’t had many human friends before, and the vampires were always very distant, almost wary of him, being Dracula’s son.

Her hand brushes his again. _This is nice,_ he thinks.

As they approach the kitchen, Alucard can just about hear the end of an argument. “I can’t believe you’ve made boobs sound boring and responsible. _Thanks, Maria,”_ says Trevor.

“Oh you’re very welcome, Richt— I mean Trevor,” says Maria.

What in the _world_ —does he even want to know?

“I think I’ve missed something important,” Alucard says as he enters the kitchen. Sypha is not far behind him. She makes a bee-line for the kettle.

“Maria was just telling me about her encounter with the Time Reaper. She asked Aeon for bigger boobs as a reward, and somehow that was smart and responsible,” Trevor explains.

Alucard feels his cheeks warm, but it dissipates quickly. The advantage of being a dhampir who hasn’t just consumed a pint of blood. _Don’t look at Maria, you idiot. If you must, look at her eyes._

“They are pretty nice,” Sypha says. She is pouring her tea and not currently looking at Maria.

“Thank you, Sypha.” Maria says.

Trevor gets up from his chair and places his empty cup and plate on the counter. “I don’t think I’m allowed say that,” he says, smirking at Alucard.

“You are absolutely right,” Maria says. “Girls only.”

He really wishes he had heard the rest of the conversation, too. “Were they that bad before?” Alucard asks, genuinely curious. He tries to figure out what could have prompted Maria to share this information, with Trevor Belmont no less, but he’s drawing a blank.

“Small tits are just fine, thanks,” Sypha says. She sits down next to Maria and breaks off a piece of bread.

“Yeah, not all women can be blessed with tits like yours, Alucard. So rude,” Trevor says.

That… catches him off guard, and he blushes. _What?_

Sypha laughs, and it makes Trevor look incredibly smug. Maria grins silently. _Please. It wasn’t that funny._

“I’m too old for this,” Alucard says.

“And we’re all older than you are!” Maria says, her eyes light up as she says it.

“…I’m too old for this,” Alucard repeats. Trevor is laughing very loudly and wraps his arm around Alucard’s shoulder in a display of comradery.

“Don’t worry. You’re still the oldest young person I know,” Trevor says.

“I’m not sure that’s a compliment but thank you, Belmont,” Alucard says. He tries to go for a dry tone of voice, but he isn’t sure he actually manages it. Time to shift attention away from himself.

“You should be careful making deals with Gods,” Alucard says to Maria, in the faint hope it’ll get people to stop paying attention to him.

Maria grins. “I know, that’s why I asked for bigger boobs. The only consequence of this gift is that I don’t care about my appearance that much anymore. For instance, I can wear these clothes without worrying too much about it.”

She’s still wearing _his_ clothes.

Alucard pinches the bridge of his nose. It’s too early for this. “Is that… is that an insult?” _Kai su, teknon?_

Maria smiles at him kindly, and shakes her head. “No. They suit you very well. They’re just not for me.”

“We could go to the market and get new fabrics there,” Sypha suggests. “I was thinking we should really check out the cemetery, just to check if any more bodies are missing.” _Ah. It’s definitely too early for that. He’s staying out of that one, for now._

Maria nods. “The owls haven’t returned yet so I don’t know if they saw anything, but I’d like to come with you.”

“I think it’s best if I stay out of it.” Trevor says. “What, with maybe some people still recognizing my family crest.”

“And me,” Alucard says, upon consideration. _Given my recent history with humans._ He doesn’t say that out loud.

“Then it’s settled,” Sypha says. “You two stay here and man the fort, and us girls will take a look around town.”


	12. Something Always Sticks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title: Thirsty for Trevor
> 
> This is really self-indulgent, I have no excuse. I met a cute boy and all of a sudden I knew how to write this chapter. 
> 
> (also the lift in the Belmont Hold drove me INSANE that's why this chapter is late, it can't physically work in the show, I'm very frustrated with that) (just ignore it shhhhhhh)

Sypha and Maria have left for the town across the river, and as Alucard finishes putting away the dishes he’s lost for a moment. Usually this would be the time for him and Maria to go to the library, spend a day searching through however many books they can find on magical and poisonous daggers, but she’s not here and Trevor solved their problem. What was it that he used to do before she got here? It feels like ages ago.

He’s well aware it hasn’t even been a week.

Gods, what is he going to do when they leave?

Something stirs in the hallway. Judging by the heavy footsteps and the fact that the women are gone, it must be Trevor. _Unless, of course, it’s the necromancer, in which case the next meeting would be highly unpleasant._

No, it’s Trevor. He stretches his hands above his head and Alucard can hear the little _crack_ of his bones. Ah. He never did like that sound.

“So. The girls are off doing their own thing. What are we doing today?” Trevor asks. “Need some help with the castle’s defence mechanism or something?”

“The castle can defend itself well enough with us in it,” Alucard replies. Apart from the doors there is nothing to defend them in the castle, but he has to admit that it wouldn’t be a bad idea. A defence mechanism… that would be quite something. Traps on every floor, activated by either lightning or magic. It would make it incredibly difficult for intruders to enter the castle. Or perhaps he could ask Sypha to make more of those enchanted armours, they seem pretty sturdy. He has no use for the armour displays as they are, anyway.

Hmmm. Perhaps it’s something to think about in the future. Right now he’s confident the four of them are capable enough to deal with whatever the necromancer can send at them. Reanimated bodies are a far easier target than the vampire lords they have already defeated.

“So… we could… make lunch?” Trevor suggests.

Alucard raises his eyebrow at him. “You’ve _just_ had breakfast. And lunch. Not an hour ago.”

“Brunch, if you will,” Trevor muses. _Ah, yes. He forgot who he was talking to. It’s all coming back to him now._

“I’m not calling it that,” Alucard replies. 

Trevor smirks. “I’m sure Sypha and Maria would appreciate it.”

 _Ugh._ “They would. They’re also not here.”

“Right, you’re stuck with me,” Trevor says. He seems to be in an unusually good mood. “So, what are we gonna do?”

That is the question of the hour. “…I don’t know.” Alucard closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. There’s always more work that could be done on improving the Belmont hold. There’s still enough rubble lying around, and books that need to be catalogued. It’s honest work, but terribly boring.

Then it dawns on him that Trevor hasn’t seen the repaired hold yet.

“Would you like to see the Belmont hold?” Alucard asks.

“You’ve managed to repair the stairs already?” He sounds surprised, and Alucard isn’t sure whether or not he should be offended. He has no idea how long it would take to repair the stairs, but surely it wouldn’t take two whole months.

“No, I’ve got something better,” Alucard says. Trevor’s confused face is very amusing to him.

“I didn’t know stairs were optional,” Trevor says.

Alucard smiles. If it’s only stairs that Trevor is expecting, he will certainly be impressed by everything else he has already installed in the hold.

It’s suddenly very important to him that Trevor will be impressed by his efforts.

“Come, I’ll show you.”

-

Trevor is humming a tune as they walk towards the Belmont Hold. Alucard doesn’t know the melody, but it sounds nice enough. He feels as if he should say something, but instead he remains silent and listens to Trevor’s humming, the birds around them, and their footsteps on the ground.

There are so many things he wants to ask, but he doesn’t know whether or not he will like the answers. One thing in particular is at the forefront of his mind. _Are Sypha and he… a thing?_ Gods, just thinking about it like that makes him feel like the gossiping ladies at the market in Lupu.

It’s not like he didn’t see it coming. Sypha clearly seemed interested in Trevor before, and she had asked him to come with her. He just wonders why they haven’t outright told him about it. He’s happy for them, he really is, but something inside him stings. He isn’t certain if it’s jealousy, and if it is jealousy, he really wonders if he’s more jealous of Trevor or of Sypha.

With everything that has been going on it has been hard to figure out what he was feeling at any given time in general. The only thing he knows for certain is that he doesn’t want them to leave. He doesn’t want to be alone again.

Perhaps a defence mechanism for the castle would be a viable solution. It would mean that he wouldn’t be anchored to his castle anymore. That is, of course, if they’ll have him tag along on their travels.

And then there’s also Maria… Gods, he doesn’t know where to start with her. She’s amazing. She’s kind and smart and funny and insanely beautiful. She’s also born a good 300 years from now. She doesn’t outright say it, but Alucard can tell she doesn’t always feel comfortable. He assumes it’s because she’s far away from home. She also mostly confirmed that he himself would still be around in 300 years – 300 years! – and that’s a terrifying thought in and of itself.

He is looking forward to meeting her again, though. She’s already so formidable, he can only imagine how wonderful she’ll be in her own time.

Gods, what a concept to think about in the early afternoon. Sometimes he swears it feels as if he’s 300 years old already.

Alucard looks over to Trevor for a moment, who’s still humming. Alucard smiles wryly. He knows the times will change and people will come and go, and it pains him to think that he will be the one to feel the way he imagines Maria is feeling right now. Homesick for a home that is out of reach.

Even now they will all leave in due time. Sypha is a Speaker, and it wouldn’t be right for her to be anchored to one place the way he is. Trevor might have been anchored in the past, but it’s been a very long time since he has been. What’s more, Alucard would rather die than let Sypha travel on her own, competent as she might be.

So. The reality is that they will leave.

However, for the moment they are here, and perhaps he can convince them to come back every once in a while.

Trevor has stopped humming. Alucard can see the surprise in his face as they arrive at the lift.

“You weren’t kidding. Stairs _are_ optional. That’s amazing!” Trevor says. Alucard feels a bit of pride swell in his chest.

“It can’t be the first lift you have seen, surely,” Alucard says. It’s a cheap trick to keep Trevor talking, but it’s nice to hear him so enthusiastic about it. Or perhaps it’s just normal conversation. How the hell should he know the difference?

“I’ve seen the pulleys farmers use, but never this. How does it work?” Trevor walks a little closer to inspect the platform for a moment. “Wait, is it automatic?”

Alucard makes a mental note to never forget the face Trevor makes at the discovery that the lift is automatic. Alucard walks closer too.

“There is a rod with wire in the mechanism above.” He points at the mechanism. “It coils around the spool as the lift moves. The length of the rope is related to the tension on the rope created by the rock on one end, and the platform on the other end. What that means is that effectively the weight of the rock and the platform changes in relation to how far away the weight is from the mechanism, as well as the length of the rope.”

He wants to explain how momentum adds into the mix, but it’s clearly not landing. Trevor is looking at him slightly confused, but Alucard doesn’t have the heart to make fun of him. Not after he’s shown such enthusiasm before.

Alucard smiles at him. “Let’s just go down. I’m sure a demonstration is far more exciting than the physics behind it all.”

“Right,” Trevor says.

Alucard opens the lift door for Trevor and gestures an ‘after you’, at which Trevor seems confused. Trevor walks onto the platform precariously. It wobbles a little under him, and Trevor’s quick to find something to hold on to. Alucard steps on the platform, too, and closes the door behind him.

“Are you ready?” he asks. Trevor nods.

Alucard releases the lift and pulls the lever. It takes a moment for the mechanism to start working, but after a few seconds they are starting to descend slowly.

Alucard can tell that Trevor is fascinated by the way he looks around.

They pass the painting of Leon Belmont. It looks into the empty space around them. Alucard wonders what it’s like, sitting for a portrait like that. He was only a few months old when his parents decided to do it, he has no memory of it. They look less serious than Trevor’s forefather, though.

“I’m never climbing any stairs again,” Trevor jokes.

“Then you’ll be disappointed to know there aren’t any lifts in the castle,” Alucard says. Trevor huffs, shrugs.

“You’ll just have to carry me,” Trevor says. Alucard grins at that. Somehow he can’t picture Trevor as the type to be carried, but now that the idea is out in the open, he’s very curious to see what it’d be like.

They arrive at the bottom fairly quickly, and Alucard is quick to pull the lever again to make sure they don’t ascend immediately. It gives him enough time to open the door and make sure the lift is docked properly.

Trevor is already walking towards the door. “Where are your torches?” he asks.

Alucard grins for a moment. “Torches are optional,” he says. He walks past Trevor into the dark library. Trevor looks confused for a moment, then shrugs again. Really he should be getting used to it now, he’s seen the lights in the kitchen.

He pulls the switch for the lights. It takes a moment, but all around them the lights turn on, illuminating the vast collection of books and other tools for monster hunting.

Trevor seems to be at least a little impressed.

“Self-lighting lights. In the Belmont Hold,” Trevor says as he whistles in appreciation.

“Does the Belmont Patriarch approve?” Alucard asks, lightly teasing.

Trevor looks at him incredulously and frowns for a moment.

“I do, but…”

Oh. Should he not have done it?

Trevor shakes his head and waves it away. “Nevermind,” he says.

“Okay,” Alucard says dryly, feeling a little underwhelmed by Trevor’s reaction.

Apparently his disappointment is audible.

“No, it’s not like that,” Trevor says. Alucard feels Trevor’s hand on his shoulder. “The lift and the lights are incredible, seriously, I don’t know how you do it,” Trevor says. “But this… this is just a library. You live in the castle, why would you start here?” Trevor asks.

Oh.

In hindsight, perhaps he should have seen this coming. First Maria, then Sypha, now Trevor. Well, he supposes it’s good to know that they care, but by the Gods he doesn’t want to do this right now. He’s been asking himself the same question over and over again, and none of the answers make any sense.

“Why not give yourself a little more comfort, first?” Trevor’s voice doesn’t sound accusing, but it’s definitely not a subject Alucard would like to discuss in the present moment. “The books don’t run away, you know.”

“That would be an unusual way for books to behave,” Alucard mumbles quietly. He knows it’s a pathetic try to change the subject, and that he’ll likely not get away with it. Maybe he doesn’t even want to get away with it. Better to pour the proverbial alcohol in the wound so that it can heal despite the pain.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is… We wondered if you were okay, you know. We shouldn’t have—”

 _No._ “Don’t—just. Don’t,” Alucard replies, half angry, half tired. It’s difficult to go down this path. “It’s good that you were where you were. That saved me from having to kill my father again.”

Trevor is silent for a moment, but he doesn’t move his hand away. If anything, his grip becomes even tighter.

“You seemed pretty out of it last night,” Trevor says bluntly. “I’m assuming you don’t want to talk about it.”

“No.”

“But if you ever do—” Trevor continues. He doesn’t finish his sentence.

Alucard is silent for a moment. Is he really the type of person to pour alcohol in his own wounds?

“Maybe I should.”

Trevor’s hand feels heavier on his shoulder than it probably is, but it’s comforting nonetheless.

“What happened?”

Right. Apply the alcohol quickly and generously. Three. Two. _One_.

“Two humans came to ask me for help in their fight against a vampire clan in Japan. Then they tried to kill me. I put them up on pikes in front of the castle.”

Trevor knows that much already. He doesn’t say anything, he’s just waiting.

Alucard looks at him momentarily. He has no more tears to cry, his conversation with Sypha was cathartic. Still. He has no idea how Trevor is going to respond, and that’s perhaps the most terrifying part of it all.

Trevor’s still staring at him, it makes Alucard feel slightly uncomfortable. _More alcohol, then?_

“We had sex. I was caught off guard and they tried to kill me, so I killed them instead.” What he doesn’t say is _I thought they liked me. I wanted them to stay. It hurts._

Trevor certainly looks more than a little shocked. He doesn’t say anything for a while.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—” Trevor scratches his head.

“Thank you for your eloquence,” Alucard says dryly.

“Hey, don’t put this on me. I don’t know what to say. If it’d happened to me, I’d just drown my sorrows in some beer, and punch some people in the face.”

Well at least Trevor isn’t laughing.

“But in all seriousness… I’m glad you’re alive.” Trevor pinches his shoulder, Alucard can see the hesitation.

He appreciates the gesture.

“I’m glad you and Sypha are not dead, too.”

“Yeah… it was a close one, though,” Trevor says, gracefully allowing the change of subject this time. Well. Almost gracefully. Trevor punches Alucard in his shoulder. Alucard punches him back, just hard enough to make Trevor nearly fall over. “Hey!”

He doesn’t want to continue the story in the same detail that he discussed it with Sypha. It’s still too fresh in his mind, there has been enough talking today. But he can tell that Trevor is mulling it over in his head.

“You know… when I killed my first monster, I was 13. It was messy and I got its blood all over me, as it lay on top of me, dying. I scrubbed my skin until it was red every day for the next month, and I still felt dirty.”

Alucard appreciates the way Trevor speaks. He’s asking _does it feel this way for you, too,_ without making a big deal of it all.

Alucard just stares in front of him. He realises he does indeed feel the same way, but it’s not the blood that’s bothering him. He just wants their hands, their fingers, their lips off his body. Just thinking about it makes him angry. Why pretend to love him if they were just going to cast him aside like that? He trusted them!

But really… in the end… he has to admit to himself that really he just wishes it had been Trevor and Sypha that night, in his bed.

Apparently Trevor can see the anger in his face. “You know what really helped me clear my mind,” Trevor asks. He smiles wickedly, and Alucard isn’t at all sure what thought would warrant that to happen.

But this is Trevor he’s talking to, so he can make an educated guess.

“If it’s sex, I’m not interested,” Alucard replies.

Trevor rolls his eyes at him. “Not what I was going for, but duly noted. No. I think it’s time you and I chop some wood.”

-

Well. Trevor was right about one thing. He’s definitely not thinking about his troubles anymore.

Alucard absolutely knows it’s rude to stare but when Trevor said he wanted to go chop some wood he hadn’t expected him to do so shirtless.

He’s not sure what Trevor’s playing at, but he wouldn’t be surprised if this were another form of torture. He’s also not entirely sure whether Trevor knows it’s torture to him, or if he genuinely enjoys chopping wood. _Shirtless_ , as Alucard reminds himself again. Like he might somehow miss that detail.

It shouldn’t get to him as much as it does.

Sure, chopping wood had seemed like a perfect plan to begin with. Trevor gets a good workout for his muscles, and for himself it means that he will have to stay focussed enough to prevent a dangerous situation from happening. Just let the pull of the Earth do the work instead of his muscles.

At any other given time, with any other person around, this might have been calming to his mind. The rhythmic sound of Trevor’s heavy breathing, the sounds of nature around them, and the occasional sound of an axe cutting clean through wood. There is no rush, either, since the cold winter months have ended and any wood they cut now won’t have to be cut in the autumn.

Still, Alucard can’t help himself.

Every once in a while, when Trevor has his back turned to him as he collects new logs of wood to split, Alucard follows the movement of his muscles. Trevor is built differently than he is. Whereas he himself has mostly lean muscle, covered by pale skin with barely a scar in sight, Trevor is bulkier, built more for heavy lifting, his skin littered with scars from the battles he has fought.

Trevor turns around with a large stack of wood in his arms. Thankfully it means that he cannot see how Alucard is still staring at him. He has noticed before how Trevor’s face looks fuller than it did a month ago, but he had just assumed it was because winter was ending and there was more food to go around. As it turns out, he definitely carries some of that added weight in his stomach, too. Had he still been a respectable nobleman, Alucard suspects he might have been even bigger. It suits him very well. He can definitely tell why Sypha wanted him around when they left to travel together.

Before Trevor drops the wood near his chopping block, Alucard turns around again and focusses on his own pile of wood. There’s work to be done.

-

It’s the middle of the afternoon, and the sun is beaming down on them. Alucard likes the sun, but not the full hot mid-day sun. It tires him to the point where he isn’t sure he could take Trevor in a fight if he wanted to.

His concentration is faltering, too. As he looks at the enormous pile of firewood next to his chopping block, Alucard decides he has worked enough for the day. He drops his axe and moves over to the shade of some nearby trees.

It’s the perfect vantage point to watch over Trevor, with the castle in the background. He can pretend to look at nothing in particular, all the while just staring at Trevor. He’s such a handsome man. If only he weren’t so rude – although today that hasn’t really been an issue. It’s frustrating how much he likes Trevor, because whilst he’s being nice for now – he suspects Sypha told him to be – he can also be frustratingly crude and stubborn.

In a sense, he’s perfect for Sypha. Sypha knows how to poke through any façade and can be equally stubborn. Trevor’s rudeness is very well matched in her terrible taste of humour. He hopes she will return from the market soon. He likes the way she always has the most interesting stories about things that aren’t really supposed to be interesting. He wonders what stories she’ll come back with today. Hopefully nothing alarming yet. He’d like to live in this relative peace for a little while longer.

He also wonders about Maria. He wonders whether it had been smart of her to tag along for the market, considering she is still recovering from that God-awful stab wound. He just doesn’t want her to be harmed again. Then again, she can summon an actual dragon. He’s sure she’ll be fine.

Still, he would definitely prefer her to be right next to him right now. His pride definitely stops him from asking Trevor for a hug at the moment, but he’d very much like to hug someone right now and Maria seems like the most sensible option. She gives her love so freely, and he loves her for it in return.

He refuses to admit that he might just want to cuddle up to all of them again in the evening. That would be highly embarrassing. Besides, the way Trevor and Sypha keep looking at each other, he figures they might want some time alone tonight.

Nothing wrong with that, of course.

He wonders what the feeling in his stomach is after thinking about Trevor and Sypha in a bed together.

He’s trying to figure out so many things for himself, he’s just glad to have friends stick around for a while. Friends that he perhaps likes a little more than just friends. But he isn’t sure. He’s never really had human friends before. Are they always like this? Loud and unapologetic and full of fault but also so warm and kind and caring when he needs it the most.

He wonders how his father could tell that his mother was there to stay when she knocked on his door so many years ago. When did his father realise he loved her? Was she his friend before she became his lover? He never really asked, but now that they’re both gone, he wishes he had.

Alucard is so lost in his thoughts that it takes Trevor to actually sit down next to him for him to realise that Trevor has stopped chopping wood some time ago.

“God, it’s warm. Spring has barely even started,” Trevor sighs.

Drops of sweat are trickling down his forehead and all over his torso. Alucard makes a very conscious effort to not get distracted again.

“I’ll get us something to drink,” he says.

He gets up and walks towards the castle. Whereas for Maria he might have put in extra effort and shifted there and back in order to impress her, he now takes his time.

_What are you doing, Adrian Fahrenheit Ţepeş? You’re not seriously lusting after a Belmont, are you? Snap out of it, you idiot!_

He finds a keg of cold beer in the cellar quickly, and decides now is as good as any time to start drinking. It’s not like they have much else to do. Besides, it might take away some of the tension he’s currently feeling.

Rather than return to Trevor immediately, he stays in the cold cellar a little longer to cool down a bit. He pours himself a large tankard of beer, finishes it, then pours another and finishes that, too, and he can feel his muscles start to relax.

Right. Time to return to Trevor.

-

When he returns, Trevor is lying down in the grass, just on the edge between the sunlight and the shadow of the trees. He sits up quickly when Alucard reaches him and hands him a big tankard. He grins happily.

“Now we’re talking,” Trevor says, right before he drinks down the entire tankard. He fills a second glass quickly, and drinks that down, too. Only at the third tankard does Trevor slow down.

Alucard looks at him in amusement. Trevor doesn’t have the luxury of having had copious amounts of fresh blood in his bloodstream over the course of a few weeks. Alucard’s alcohol tolerance is many times higher than it usually is. Trevor, however, has been sweating a lot, and Alucard suspects that drinking this quickly is a sure way for him to get drunk very fast.

Trevor lies down in the grass again, a content smile plastered on his face. He closes his eyes. It doesn’t take long for his breath to become even.

Alucard wonders if he’s fallen asleep. It’s difficult to tell. He’s caught listening to Trevor’s rhythmic breathing, staring at the way his stomach expands and contracts with every breath. He seems so peaceful, sleeping in the sunlight.

Or perhaps he isn’t as asleep as Alucard expected him to be, because when his eyes travel up, he catches Trevor staring right back at him.

“Something on your mind?” Trevor asks.

It absolutely catches him off guard. _Didn’t he just tell himself to not get distracted again? Three minutes in and you’re already distracted again, great work._

“You have a lot of scars,” Adrian says in an effort to masque the real reason for his distraction.

Thankfully, it seems to work. _You can remain a distracted idiot for as long as you can talk yourself out of these situations,_ Alucard tells himself.

“Job hazard,” Trevor says. “Got a pretty big one yourself.”

Maybe it’s the alcohol, maybe he just can’t help himself regardless. Alucard smiles wickedly.

“Oh it’s big alright.” It’s out before he can stop himself.

It takes Trevor a good while before he catches on. The moment he does, his facial expression changes from relaxed to shocked to almost outraged, finally settling on indignant.

“NO—Don’t say it. You know that’s not what I meant.”

Alucard just grins. He’s half surprised he’s making the dirty jokes here, it seems far more Trevor’s area of expertise.

But Trevor has been kind to him today, so he will do his best to return that kindness and just let it go.

“I had more scars a month ago,” Alucard says. “They’re gone now, but it doesn’t feel like they’re gone.”

Trevor sits up and looks him over with a serious face. For a moment, Alucard is convinced Trevor is going to hug him, but it might have been the alcohol giving him that idea. Instead, Trevor speaks.

“Yeah. Something always sticks,” he says. Trevor turns his back towards him and points at a big scar that is located half on his shoulder and half on his back. “Got this one on my back from the fire set to our house.”

Alucard hesitates, but he has never seen more of an invitation to touch another person’s back as right in this moment. With featherlight fingertips he touches the scar carefully. The skin there is very soft, clearly the result of being burned by fire.

“I could probably remove it with a bit of medical magic,” Alucard offers. Human scars are easy to deal with. His father’s claws, on the other hand, aren’t. He might carry that with him for the rest of his life.

“No, that’s okay, I don’t want you to,” Trevor says. “I’m carrying a part of it with me anyways. Might just as well have a physical reminder, too.”

Ah. He forgets sometimes that Trevor lost his entire family in that fire. Trevor never really speaks about it, and Alucard doesn’t blame him. He barely speaks of his parents, either. He misses them dearly.

“Does it ever… get less painful,” he asks. “The memory of them, I mean.”

Trevor hums. It takes a little while for him to answer.

“Yes. No. It gets more bearable, I suppose. I still miss them.”

“I miss them, too.”

There is a short silence. _Them_. They are, of course, both talking about a different _them_. He has never really spoken about the pain of his parents’ loss. Wasn’t really planning on it, either. Somehow it’s easy to talk about _them_ with Trevor, knowing that he understands.

Trevor shifts a little closer to him and fills another tankard with beer. He downs the entire thing before he speaks again.

“Do you think if they hadn’t died… I would have eventually be sent out to kill you? Given our families’ histories.”

“Hmmmm.” That’s not exactly what he had been thinking of, but it’s a good point to consider. If the Belmonts had still been alive, would they have tried to kill Dracula, like they had tried on many an occasion? Would they have killed Lisa, or would they have listened to her when she told them how he had changed?

He reminds himself of the little dhampir skulls he has seen in the Belmont hold. Would they have attempted to kill him before he had had a chance to grow up and show himself as the honourable person he hopes he is?

There really isn’t a point in going down this path. There’s no changing history, not even for time-travellers, it seems. He’s just grateful that they aren’t trying to kill each other now.

“Not that you could, of course,” Alucard says.

That seems to have been the right answer.

“Uhhhh did you forget about Gresit? I had you there,” Trevor says.

Alucard smirks. “I was just going easy on you.”

Trevor rolls his eyes at him. “You know what that sounds like to me? A sore loser.”

“Please. If I lose, I do so with grace.”

Trevor starts laughing. “Of course you do, bloody bastard. Everything you do is fucking graceful, God damn it.”

Alucard feels his heart beat a little faster and his cheeks feel warm for a moment. He’s certain it isn’t because of the alcohol. “You know, that almost sounded like a compliment, Belmont.”

“It was.”

Trevor says it with such bluntness that Alucard is momentarily at a loss for words. Trevor doesn’t seem to notice how it affects him, for which Alucard is again very grateful.

Trevor pours himself another glass of beer. The motion reveals a pretty nasty scar on his triceps. With all of his liquid courage, Alucard decides to ask about it again.

“What happened here?” Alucard asks. He touches the scar gently. Trevor lifts his arm in an attempt to get a better view of the scar, but it only partially works.

“Goblin. They sneak up on you. Thank God I’m tall and they weren’t able to get to my face,” Trevor says.

Hmmm. Not much of a story after all, then.

“Where _did_ you get the scar on your face?” Alucard asks.

Trevor grins at him sheepishly. “Eh… I can’t remember,” he admits. “I woke up with a mighty hangover in the woods. Might have been a knife fight, could well have been a sharp tree branch.”

Alucard covers his mouth with his hand to hide his smile and shakes his head. He really wishes Trevor had been more careful, but the story makes him want to laugh. He’s not alone in being an idiot anymore, clearly.

“And this?” Alucard asks. There is a claw mark on Trevor’s chest. It doesn’t take a lot of effort for Alucard to reach out and touch it. He doesn’t know when they have gotten to sit so closely together, but he can’t say that he minds. Trevor is warm in a good way, not like the scorching sun that burns everything it touches, but warm like a fire on a cold winter day.

Or maybe he’s just so far gone for Trevor that he’s making things up in his mind. Who knows. It’s not like Trevor would be interested in him, anyway. It’s still comforting to be around him, though.

“Vampire,” Trevor says.

Upon closer inspection, Alucard can see that his own claws fit right in the grooves of the scars. It hurts him to think that his people would hurt Trevor like that. He reminds himself that Trevor is the one who is sitting opposite of him, which means that the vampire is probably worse off.

It’s strange to be so close to Trevor without being in a fight or having to endure his usual unfunny remarks. Then again, they did sleep in the same bed the night before, and they don’t have his father to kill now. It’s an entirely different situation. So much so that he decides to continue pressing his luck.

“And this?” Alucard asks. He touches Trevor lightly in his side, where two similar shaped scars are placed. Trevor flinches, and for a moment Alucard is alarmed he has done something inappropriate, but he can see Trevor grin.

Ah, he’s ticklish! This is valuable information.

“Giant spider. I was definitely poisoned afterwards, but I met a lovely witch who made me an antidote.”

 _Lovely witch?_ Is this another one of his adventures with Sypha or are they talking about another witch here?

He doesn’t have much time to think about it. Trevor stirs, shifts, and finally lies back on his back again. His breathing evens out again.

“Right. I’m calling it a day. We’ve got enough firewood to last us for weeks, if not months, and it’s nowhere near winter yet.”

 _Does that mean he’s planning to stay for the winter?_ If they run out, they can always save wood by all sleeping in the same bed again.

He hasn’t had enough to drink to suggest it. It doesn’t feel natural anyway.

“Agreed,” Alucard simply says.

He isn’t sure Trevor has heard it. This time, the rhythmic breathing is accompanied by a low resting heartbeat. Trevor has fallen asleep.

It must be the alcohol. Alucard admires the man’s ability to just fall asleep anywhere, regardless of whatever danger is around. Even when they were on their way to the Belmont hold after they had just met, the moment his watch had ended he had just fallen asleep right then and there.

With everything that’s potentially going on, their enemies regrouping, the necromancer gaining strength, Alucard decides it’s a bad idea to follow suit.

Instead, he summons his sword. He will keep watch over Trevor until Sypha and Maria return.

Besides, torture or not, it’s a genuine pleasure to just look at Trevor on any day. There are definitely worse ways he could be spending his time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alucard: “I don’t think Trevor is as interested in me as I am in him :((((((”  
> Trevor: *chops wood without his shirt on, gets clingy whilst drunk, shows off his fantastic body, compliments Alucard constantly, gifted Alucard his fucking family library* “I’ve been leaving subtle hints that I’m interested.”


	13. Revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A soft epilogue to the previous chapter. :)

_What a day today has been_ , Sypha thinks to herself. Going to the small town had been an easy task, and they encountered no problems on the way. The graveyard was still exactly as quiet as it should be; the merchants in the market square were more than happy to accept their gold; and the local seamstress was happy to accept an order for two dresses, thinking it had been for the feast of spring that was coming up a week from now. Sypha has made a mental note to convince everyone to go there with her. 

Furthermore – most importantly – she has had the opportunity to talk to Maria. What a revelation that has been.

Apparently time-travel isn’t exactly what she thought it would be, and Maria has very little control over it. Which is probably not so great for Maria, but for herself it paints an entirely new picture of the situation, and that’s working to her advantage. Hopefully.

The thing is, she has a feeling that Maria is Alucard’s future wife. Well, she hasn’t seen a wedding ring on her finger yet, but it’s not hard to tell from the way she seems to know Alucard and how she acts around him. And from the way that Maria acts around her and Trevor… it’s suspicious to say the least. It’s almost as if Maria is taking a respectful distance from the three of them. She’d be damned if she didn’t take advantage of the whole situation.

Therefore it’s crucial she speak to Trevor as soon as possible. She has no idea why he ended up sleeping next to Alucard in the grass, mostly drunk, entirely shirtless – but if her suspicions are right, it’s really a win-win situation. She loves Trevor, he loves her, they both love Alucard. She just hopes that Alucard loves them in return, after all that he’s been through.

As she approaches the guest bedroom, she can hear Trevor speak. Hmmm. She just left Maria and Alucard in the kitchen together. Is he talking to himself?

Really, she should leave. This is improper. If Trevor wants to tell her something, he will tell her.

On the other hand, she would love to know what it is that Trevor talks to himself about. Really, he has the advantage here—she can’t stop herself from talking in her sleep, and he hears her all the time. So if she can even the playing field that would only be fair, right?

She mulls it over in her mind. See, she wouldn’t really mind if Trevor barged in if she were to be talking to herself. He’s always near her when she talks in her sleep, and he gets to tease her with that. Maybe now it’s time for her to finally get her revenge, no?

 _What will it be, Sypha Belnades?_ A proper partner’s behaviour, or a scumbag’s revenge? Hmmm. _Decisions, decisions._

The muffled scream that resounds during her inner reflections cues her to make a fast decision. If this is something Trevor’s concealing a scream for, she definitely wants to hear it, decency be damned.

She tiptoes towards the door of the guest bedroom and pushes herself against the wall next to it. It’s not much of a hiding place, but she figures she isn’t really there to pretend she didn’t hear anything. If he sees her, so be it.

Trevor is holding a pillow in his arms and groans softly. “What are you doing, Trevor Belmont?”

She was right, he is talking to himself. She can barely contain her excitement. Gods, it’s just like when she was younger and she and her friends were spying on the elders, long after bedtime. One wrong move and she will mess it up. _Quiet, Sypha! Get a hold of yourself, dios mío!_

“The first two people in years who give a crap about you, and suddenly you’re all caught up in these fucking _feelings._ ”

It takes all of her restraint to not immediately enter the room and start laughing. She was right! Trevor likes Alucard, too! She dampens her excitement temporarily. He could be talking about Maria, for all she knows.

“How the _fuck_ are you gonna tell Sypha? You see one pretty boy and you’re gone?” Okay, not Maria, then. Alucard.

Alright!

Yes.

_Hmmmmm._

On second thought, that doesn’t sound too good. Is he really going to leave her for Alucard? That’s rude.

Trevor gets up and starts pacing around the room frantically, with the pillow still in his arms. “What the hell is she supposed to think? That you don’t love her enough? _FUCK._ ”

Ah. She can see how this is something she shouldn’t tease him about. It seems that Trevor hasn’t had as much experience with… well, she was going to say relationships with more than one person, but perhaps relationships in general seems to be a more accurate description. There goes her plan for revenge. Well, she can always spy on him again in the future and tease him with whatever shocking secret she can find out then.

Trevor stops pacing and straight up drops himself flat on the bed, pillow in hand. “Ugh. You’re so fucking greedy.”

Right. This is where she’s going to step in, she can’t have her partner think he’s greedy for simply loving two people at the same time. Well, not if at least one of those people is in love with both parties, too. And if Alucard might be feeling the same way, too—

She’s getting ahead of herself. This conversation must happen first, and it must be done right.

“That’s no way to talk to yourself. You wouldn’t tell me I’m greedy for the same reason, would you?”

Trevor looks absolutely terrified. He sits up straight on the bed and throws the pillow away. He looks so shocked that Sypha genuinely feels sorry for spying on him, even if it means they get to have this conversation now.

“Relax, I’m not mad,” Sypha says. She sits next to him on the bed and grabs a hold of his arm. She tries to look him in the eye, but he turns his head away.

Sypha stroked his arm with her thumbs in an effort to calm him down. “I wanted to talk to you about the exact same thing,” she says, her voice as serious as she can muster.

“I’m… listening,” Trevor says. Thankfully he’s looking at her again, albeit with slightly flushed cheeks. Sypha smiles at him and pinches his arm softly. He’s so cute when he blushes. How did she get so lucky?

The better question to ask, of course, is how she’s going to start this conversation.

“Well. Ehhhh. Alucard, huh?”

Excellent, Sypha. If he wasn’t going to leave you before, he might leave you now. You’re supposed to be a speaker, act like it!

Trevor, of course, doesn’t say any of those things. He just sighs and says: “Alucard.”

There is a short pause between them. It isn’t uncomfortable. Sypha assumes that Trevor doesn’t really know what to say either, and is just waiting for her to continue.

She could tell him about how she wants to be with the both of them, preferably right now, skip all the courting and similar nonsense and just jump into the nearest bed – Maria can join, if she wants to, although, on second thought, she doubts that Trevor feels the same way, considering he compared her to one of his older sisters earlier that day.

They have briefly spoken about Alucard in that same conversation. Sypha has only told him to be _nice_ for a change because something bad had happened. She didn’t want to tell Alucard’s entire story for him, but she needed to make sure Trevor would be nice to him.

Which is absolutely why they must not rush any of this at all. Gods. _They should never have left._

“I think Maria is probably his partner in the future,” Sypha says instead. She pushes the thought away that it’s a future in which he is still alive and they are not.

“Oh, God, yes,” Trevor says. “She’s definitely his future wife. I wonder if he’s picked up on it yet.”

“She’s pretty bad at lying for being a time-traveller who isn’t supposed to say anything,” Sypha jokes.

Trevor grins at that. “Don’t tell her that, though. You’d break her heart.”

Sypha lets out a nervous chuckle. “It’s our secret, then.”

Trevor rests his hand on her upper leg and starts rhythmically caressing her thigh. It’s very soothing, and Sypha sighs with relief as she rests her head on his shoulder. If this were to be the last thing they did on Earth, she would die a happy woman.

“Time-travel is probably not as flexible for her as we had thought,” she says.

“Yeah, I figured the same thing,” Trevor says.

Gods, she can just feel the anticipation in the air. She has to just go in and address it, otherwise she’s going to go insane.

“I think Alucard is lonely and we shouldn’t take advantage of that but by the Gods I want to kiss him, and I think you do, too, and if you’re up for it I would love for us to be in a partnership of three.”

She can see Trevor blink a few times, dumbfounded. He blushes and looks away, then scratches his head with his free hand.

 _Please, say something_! It’s absolutely nerve-wrecking to wait for what he has to say, but she knows she cannot force this out of him.

“Why…” Trevor hesitates. _Yes, please, do continue._ “Why do you think I want to kiss him?”

“Uhhhh, because you were flirting with him when I got back?” Shit. She remembers how she was going to take this slow. Oh well. Trevor isn’t outright smacking her in the face, so it can’t be that bad.

He is, however, very flustered.

“I haven’t been flirting,” Trevor says indignantly.

 _Oh, really._ “Please. You were shirtless.”

“And?”

Sypha throws her hands up in exasperation. “I’ve seen you shirtless. It definitely worked on me,” she says.

Trevor frowns at her and – for the love of God – starts to pout. “You’re with me because of my looks?”

“Yes, absolutely, that’s the only reason I’m with you, your smoking hot body.” It comes out a little more sarcastic than she had intended, but it does the trick.

“Well then, why _are_ you with me?”

 _Oh no_. The way Trevor asks her the question is far too honest to make fun of. It’s a little disorienting to hear him ask it. He’s kind, gentle, passionate about what he does, his laugh is like the sweetest story to her ears, and the way he looks at her when she tells him a story is like nothing she has ever seen before. If she could change one thing, it would be that he would talk to her even more than he already does, because his voice makes her insides melt every single time. She just wants to hold him and be held by him forever.

“Because I love you, Trevor,” she says. Gods, she doesn’t know where to start, but she’d be damned if she didn’t let him know that she loves him, so very much. She stands up from the bed and strokes his hair gently.

Trevor’s face turns into a big happy smile. Gods, she’s so gone.

“Don’t I know it,” he says.

He pulls her closer, traps her between his legs as he wraps his arms around her. He rests his head on her stomach. Sypha bows down and presses a kiss on his hair. It’s softer than usual, he must have washed it. It smells pretty good, too.

A sudden insecurity overwhelms her. “I know I make a lot of bad jokes at your expense, but you know I don’t mean them, right?”

Trevor looks up at her now, a smile playing on his lips. “Is that so?”

“You’re kind and gentle, and you’re much smarter than you give yourself credit for, and I just want you to hold me forever and say sweet things to me because I love you so much.”

Trevor buries his head in her stomach again and hugs her tighter.

When he looks up to her again he has a stupid grin on his face, and he says: “My, Ms. Belnades, I had no idea you felt that way about me.”

Sypha rolls her eyes at him. “Oh, shut up.”

Trevor presses a kiss on her stomach. “I thought you liked my voice,” he says, teasing.

“Don’t push it, Treffy,” Sypha says. She’s trying to sound serious, but she can only contain her laughter for a few moments.

They stay there for a minute, staring at each other in silence. She cards her fingers through Trevor’s hair rhythmically.

Trevor sighs.

“So, Alucard, huh?”

Sypha hums. “Yes. Alucard.”

Trevor’s hands drop from her waist to her legs. “Just so we’re clear… you like him too, don’t you?” Trevor asks.

“I… do.” Somehow the admission is difficult. She still isn’t entirely sure how Trevor feels about Alucard, but it would be rude to expect him to admit it first if she isn’t prepared to do the same thing.

She can tell Trevor is thinking.

“I’ve not… at least, I think I’ve not been flirting per se,” Trevor says finally, “but I can’t deny that I really liked to have his full attention on me this afternoon.”

“Hmmm.” She believes him. Gods, it must be hard for him to figure all of this out. He wasn’t raised a speaker, and she knows that most people are suspicious of relationships that aren’t the standard man-woman-couple-married-by-the-Church.

“Hell, I don’t know what to think,” Trevor continues. He rubs his eyes. “He’s a damn pretty bastard. I just. Want to kiss him. Don’t even have a plan for how to deal with our _thing_ after that. I’m sure we can figure it out.”

Sypha cards another hand through his hair. Then they’re both pretty much on the same page. That’s extremely comforting to hear.

“I also would really like to kiss him,” Sypha says. “But only if he wants to, also,” she adds.

Trevor nods and smiles at up her. “You’ll just have to do with kissing me for the time being.”

Sypha grins. “Hmmmm. You say that like it’s a bad thing. It really, really isn’t.”

She gently places her hands on Trevor’s chin, and pulls him in for a kiss. She can feel his lips part, can feel his tongue gently move around hers in slow, undulating movements. The scruffy hairs just below his lips tickle at her chin, and she smiles. This, forever, sounds like a perfect small piece of heaven.

When they finally break the kiss, Trevor looks at her with just the faintest bit of worry. “Are we good? Are you good?” he asks.

Sypha lets out a deep breath and finally settles in his lap. “Yes, we definitely are. I definitely am.”

Trevor smiles at her. “Good. I love you, Sypha.”

“I love you, Trevor.”


	14. The Lost Portrait

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Interesting fact I came across: Minutes are mentioned from the 14th century, but clocks are not precise enough for anyone to bother about seconds until two centuries later. Maria has seconds in her vocabulary, Alucard might have, Sypha and Trevor definitely don’t. 
> 
> Out of context reference for this chapter:  
> Maria, holding out a picture of Castlevania Judgment Trevor: this one sparks joy

_Three more days._ That’s what she keeps telling herself. If Trevor is right, it will only take three more days of these God-awful nightmares and then she’ll be free of them.

 _Three more days_ is a mantra she can hold on to. Never mind that the nightmares seem to be only getting more extreme and more frequent – last night she woke up a grand total of four times – but if there is an end in sight, she can bear it.

 _Three more days_. The lightning scar has been retreating steadily, and with that she can feel her energy returning. The stairs aren’t her mortal enemies anymore, and apart from the direct area of her stab wound her side hasn’t been hurting so much anymore. There are other things she can shift her attention to.

In this case, _other things_ mainly meaning the constant flirting going on between Alucard and, well, everyone else. Maria has no idea what opened the flood gates on that particular event, but she suspects Trevor and Sypha have had a good talk and as a result are taking turns in flattering, teasing and complimenting Alucard every moment of the day.

It’s definitely as it should be. Unfortunately, the side-effects of the situation are that she feels really out of place. It isn’t jealousy per se, although she would be lying if she didn’t admit jealousy was definitely a part of it, but there’s just… no place for her. Not right now, at least. Which is probably, definitely, unfortunately, also as it should be.

Which is why she finds herself lost in one of the many hallways of the castle.

She recognizes some of the rooms in the castle, although she’s certain they aren’t always connected to the hallways and rooms that she remembers them to be connected to. It’s fascinating, and she wonders whether there is some form of system to it, a code she can crack.

The answer is, of course, that there isn’t. A creature of chaos doesn’t need to adhere to rules and systems. She really wishes she didn’t have to comply with time-traveller rules, either. Adrian has been so kind to her, and she can tell that he likes her. If Sypha and Trevor weren’t around she would have flirted with him much more intently, but she knows it’s important that they figure out what to do with the three of them.

_Ugh. Stop it, Maria. Not every thought needs to lead back to that self-same conclusion. I know you’re tired, but try to find something to distract you._

Maria yawns. As she looks around, she can see red and green eyes lurking in the shadows. They’re not real, she knows that much. She has been seeing them regularly for the last couple of days. At first she still summoned Genbu, her turtle, and his shield, but very quickly she realised there wasn’t really any point in summoning a shield for something that wasn’t real, anyway.

Even now, as the eyes are staring at her, she doesn’t feel the same fear she feels in her nightmares. She doesn’t know why Trevor hasn’t talked about the hallucinations, but at this point she feels that it’s pointless to trouble any of them with it. After all, it’s only supposed to be three more days.

She can see that the eyes are coming closer. She doesn’t really want to find out what happens when the monsters actually get to her. She quickly enters the nearest room she can find.

She closes the door behind her and takes a deep breath. For some reason the imaginary monsters never follow her into the rooms, only through the hallways. It’s comforting to know there is a way to escape them, albeit temporarily.

Her eyes wander around the room. It’s much smaller than the rooms she has found in the past. As Maria looks up, she can see a painting of the night’s sky. Two low windows shed light on the sparingly placed furniture and the damaged carpet. A relatively small and somewhat damaged bed is standing close to her, as well as a few book cases, a dresser, a desk and a few boxes with children’s toys.

Her brow furrows. This is… not what she expected to find. Should she leave?

Maria takes another few steps forward.

In the middle of the room, on the damaged carpet, there lies a single ring.

The damage on the carpet is from fire. She can see the burned edges, a few splinters of burned wood. Judging from the state of the room, the splinters are likely from the bed post of the small children’s bed.

It doesn’t take long to put two and two together. Her stomach feels uneasy and her breath is caught in her throat.

This must be where the great tragedy occurred.

She doesn’t know for how long she keeps standing there, staring at the small bed. There is such a stark contrast between the happy memories this room must have brought in the past, and the final, horrible event that must have occurred here.

Her eyes are drawn towards the painting on the wall. She has never seen it before. It’s a portrait of a beautiful woman, a small child, and Dracula. The woman must be Alucard’s mother, Lisa. Alucard looks so much like her. That also means that the child, the baby, must be Alucard.

If she had found the portrait under different circumstances, she would have been able to tease Alucard with the picture of him as a baby. Right now, the painting just makes her sad.

Her eyes linger on Dracula. It’s strange to see him so relaxed, she would even go as far as to say he looks happy. But perhaps that’s a side-effect of only having seen a glimpse of the man in the past.

It’s strange. Dracula is usually the monster to inspire fear into even the bravest of people’s hearts, but she remembers seeing him for a short moment when she was twelve. He admired her bravery and innocence, as he called it, even as he was defeated by Richter.

She’s not sure how to explain it. Dracula was horrible, yes, but she holds no grudge against him.

Shaft, on the other hand, scares her. He’s the one who unlocked her magic potential, who wanted to offer up her life to resurrect Dracula. Just the thought of it sends shivers down her spine.

Shaft is absolutely terrifying to her. Dracula, not so much. He did have a wonderful son, after all. Perhaps it’s all due to the few stories she’s heard Alucard tell about his father. He seemed like an honourable man, a wonderful man who knew more about science and magic than she ever might in her lifetime. It doesn’t change anything about the fact that he had gone insane with grief, not to mention the ages of bloodlust and torture that came before it.

Hmmmm. It’s strange how a few good stories can change ones perception of a person.

Objectively, Dracula was more horrible than Shaft, sure. It’s still Shaft who haunts her dreams.

He was such a terrifying force. She wonders how much of his powers he has regained already. Should she have made a point of searching him out? She might have, if she hadn’t lost her memory the moment she arrived in the past.

She knows not to underestimate Shaft. He’s smart, will lie low unless he had amassed enough power to do… whatever it is he wants to do. Probably reclaim the castle in the name of Dracula, if she knows him even the slightest bit at all.

What worries her the most about him, though, are his mind tricks. What can one person do against that kind of control?

She really doesn’t feel like she’s the right person to fight Shaft at all.

“Maria? What are you doing here?”

The sound of his voice alarms her. When she turns around, she sees Adrian standing in the doorway.

“I was just—I didn’t mean to—” It feels as if she shouldn’t be there. She feels like a scolded child for even being caught in this room, but when she looks at Adrian’s face he doesn’t seem mad. He smiles, but his eyes look sad.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” he says.

As he walks towards her, he seems guarded. His entire body screams that he doesn’t want to be there. Still, he comes closer to her.

He stares at the portrait intently for a few moments.

Maria hesitates. He seems a little lost. She gently places her hand on his shoulder.

“Are you alright?”

He doesn’t answer her question and turns back at the painting.

“Sypha has discovered the dolls I’ve made,” he says, pained, completely unprompted.

Maria giggles behind her hand. She sees his pained expression and tries to contain herself. He really should have hidden them away somewhere safe.

“I’m glad my pain is amusing to you,” he says.

“I’m sorry.” Maria disguises a laugh as a cough. Adrian smiles at her. Then he goes back to watching the painting intently.

“Is that you?” Maria asks. She points at the baby in the painting.

“Yes,” Adrian simply says. He doesn’t turn away from her, which Maria takes as a good sign. God knows he doesn’t talk about his family often enough, and she accepts it. She really wonders why she has never seen the painting before.

“You look like your mother.” _She was very beautiful_ , Maria wants to add, but she doesn’t say it. It might be too much of a reminder that she’s gone.

“So I’ve been told.” He pauses for a moment. “It’s strange to see this painting. They were so happy back then.”

Maria caresses his shoulder. Adrian smiles at her and places his hand on hers. He gently moves it off of his shoulder, but he doesn’t let go.

“Well. At least they’re together.” She can tell he tries to say it lightly, but his eyes looks sad. She pinches his hand softly.

“You feel alone without them.”

Adrian looks her over a couple of times. Maria looks back at him, tries to figure out what he’s thinking, but his face is unreadable.

“I do.”

She pinches his hand again. This time he returns the gesture.

“Still. It is good to be able to see their faces.”

Maria nods. She has a painting of her parents back at home, too, but not that of his parents. This is the first time she has seen the portrait. Once again she’s left wondering what has happened to it. 

“I have a portrait of my parents, too,” she says. “It’s good to remember what they were like.”

“What were your parents like, Maria?” Adrian asks.

Maria closes her eyes and smiles. She wasn’t expecting the question and has to think for a moment how she wants to answer it.

“My mother was an alchemist. She could sing very beautifully,” she says. She remembers the endless days of her mother standing over an alembic, trying to perfect the potions her father needed on his travels. She remembers a few basic potions, but she had been too young to start her own training. If Shaft hadn’t murdered them that night, she might have been a master alchemist now. Her life would have been very different.

“My father was an excellent swordsman,” Maria continues. “He had an excellent shot with rifles and duelling pistols, too. He travelled a lot, but he always brought back a flower from wherever he went.” Maria smiles at the memory. She still has the old book wherein she kept the dried flowers. It is the only thing she had returned to her parents’ mansion for after she had escaped the castle. She’s eternally grateful Richter had come with her. She really wasn’t prepared to go back there alone.

“They sound formidable,” Adrian says.

“They were,” Maria says. “I think they’re looking down on me, from heaven. I’d like to think I’m making them proud.”

Adrian scoffs. “My parents are probably looking up at me, from hell. Not entirely sure I’m making them proud.”

Maria looks at him in shock. He seems shocked to have said it, too, as he covers his mouth with his hand. Never mind his self-depreciating thought.

To be fair, she absolutely expected Dracula to go to hell. His mother, however, not so much.

“You mean your mother is in hell, too?” Maria asks.

Adrian shrugs. “Don’t worry, my mother was very bright, I’m sure she knew what she was getting herself into when she married my father.”

Maria remains silent. Did Lisa love Dracula so much that she would risk going to hell? She isn’t sure that’s a choice she would make, no matter how much she loved another person.

“Besides. My father told me stories of how he was on good terms with both Death and the Devil. They’re probably having a grand old time down there.”

His light-heartedness makes her feel slightly more at ease with the idea, but the comment still bothers her. Adrian looks at her for a few seconds and then turns back to study the painting.

Maria is studying Adrian now. Would he go to hell, simply for having Dracula as a father? She doesn’t believe it. Alucard makes his own choices, and she knows he regrets some of the ones that he has made in the past. Besides, she doesn’t believe God to be cruel. Only those who harm others intentionally and those who make pacts with demons end up in hell, her mother once told her. Most people get the peace they deserve after this life.

“I think I want to leave,” Adrian says. “Will you join me?”

Maria nods. As Adrian walks towards the door, she notices the ring on the floor. She decides that the floor seems like a horrible place to leave it. She may not agree with Dracula in the slightest, but he’s dead and as such she will treat whatever remains of him with respect, for Alucard’s sake.

She picks up the ring from the floor and places it on the table under the painting. There. That’s better.

When she walks towards the door, she can see Adrian regarding her with curious eyes.

“The floor seems like such a lowly place to leave it at,” Maria says. She tries to read Adrian’s expression, but it’s difficult to tell what he’s feeling. His eyes shift across the room, and for a moment Maria fears he’s going to panic, but he doesn’t. He does, however, smile kindly at her.

As she joins him in the hallway, she feels his hand intertwine with hers.

They walk in silence. Somewhere in the back of her mind she can hear herself say that she’s not supposed to do this, because _what about Sypha and Trevor_? She dismisses the thought very quickly. Now is not the time to be alarmed. Besides, she’s very, very tired and all she really wants to do is be close to Alucard and hear him talk.

She thumbs the back of his hand. He’s very quiet. With Alucard near, there are no more monsters in the hallway.

-

Far too soon they reach the library. Maria wants to continue to the kitchen, but Adrian stops her.

“Have I done something wrong?” he asks. The question baffles Maria. Why would he think that?

“You? Never. Why do you ask?”

Adrian sighs, his face looks worried. “I get the feeling you’re avoiding me.”

Ah. That is not entirely untrue, but it’s probably because of entirely different reasons than he thinks.

“I’m not avoiding you,” Maria lies.

He just looks at her, eyebrow raised. She sighs. How does she tell him she’s making room for Trevor and Sypha to talk to him? As soon as they defeat Shaft, she’ll be gone and Trevor and Sypha need to stick around when she leaves. She can’t just leave with the thought that he will resign to feeling lost and abandoned again.

She doesn’t know how to say it.

“Fine, I’ve been avoiding you a little bit.”

“Oh.” Adrian sounds surprised at that, as if he expects her to lie about it. “Do you want me to leave?”

Maria shakes her head. “No. I just—” She sighs. “I shouldn’t be here. I’m messing things up by being here. Before you ask, no, I cannot tell you what things.”

Adrian shakes his head. “Even if you are, and I’m not saying that you are, I’m really glad you’re here, Maria.”

It’s so unexpectedly nice to hear him say it that Maria is at a loss for words.

“Besides,” he adds, “If a Guardian of Time wants you here, I’m sure you’re supposed to be here.”

_Whatever you do, don’t start crying. I know you’re tired, but just don’t._

“Thank you, Alucard,” Maria says, her voice as steady as she can keep it.

“I asked because…” Adrian hesitates. “I am avoiding Trevor and Sypha.”

Oh. That’s not good. What happened? “What? Why?”

“They’ve been acting strange ever since they got here,” Adrian says.

“Strange how?” Maria asks.

“I don’t know, I can’t put my finger on it. Trevor doesn’t jump at every opportunity to insult me, and when he does, it’s more friendly banter than anything else. Hell, he’s complimenting me constantly on the strangest things.”

Oh. Maria tries her best to suppress the grin that’s coming up on her face. She didn’t realise he would be this clueless, but she isn’t surprised, either.

“And Sypha…” Adrian continues. “She’s just giving me everything I ask for without being difficult. Don’t get me wrong, I like that she’s just telling me stories all the time but… it’s strange. She’s even asked me if she can braid my hair.”

Maria can’t hide her grin anymore, and Adrian looks at her as if she’s betrayed him. Maria shakes her head at him.

She should tell him. She’s _going_ to tell him.

“Alucard… they’re probably flirting with you.”

Adrian narrows his eyes at her. He looks very confused. “But… they’re together.”

“Yes. And?”

She can see the cogs turning behind his eyes. His brain is working, but she can’t tell what his eventual conclusion is going to be. Well. She’s done her best to help him, from now on everything is just up to him.

“Hmmmmm,” he says, calculating.

He’s silent for a while. If he hadn’t expected them to be flirting with him, it might take some time for him to wrap his head around that fact.

“I’d still like to avoid them for the time being,” Adrian says finally. He’s still frowning. “Will you come sit with me?”

Really, she should just say no. She’s tired and any time Adrian doesn’t spend with her is potentially time for him to spend with Sypha and Trevor.

She tells herself her resolve is weakened because she’s tired, but really, she just wants to be around him.

“I will.”

-

She sits down on the sofa and relaxes. The pillows are soft and the room is much warmer than the endless hallways. Her book is still lying on the table next to the couch. She had been reading about the type of magic Sypha uses. Much of it is a mystery to her, but she knows the four spirits she can summon are related to their own specific elements – water, fire, metal and wood – and perhaps there is some potential for her there.

So far, however, she hasn’t had any luck yet. Maybe she should just ask Sypha for some lessons.

“Can I ask you something?” Adrian asks.

“Of course,” Maria says.

“I’m not asking this because you’re a time-traveller, but I just…” he pauses for a moment. “I was just wondering. Sometimes you call me Alucard, but mostly you call me Adrian. Why is that?”

Oh. She hadn’t realised she had started to call him Alucard. To be fair, the more she talks to him, the more she feels like he’s exactly the same person as the Alucard she knows. Which, of course, he is. 

“You asked me to call you Adrian.”

“That I did,” he muses. “I don’t mind being called Alucard, you know. I was just wondering—is it because we know each other in the future?”

“Yes.” There’s no point in lying. She can tell there is more that he wants to say with that.

“It must be strange to you, to see me in this time.” _That’s certainly one way to put it._ “You know more about me than I know of you.”

It’s more than just that. She also knows what’s going to happen, and she isn’t sure how to deal with it. There are so many things she wants to shield him from, but she can’t. All she can really do is be there for him when she can be. Besides, if her coming here has always happened in Alucard’s past, he hasn’t told her about it, either. She has to figure out how to deal with Shaft herself.

But she can’t possibly think to explain that to him.

“It is a little strange, yes. But I think deep down you are the same person, just a little younger.”

Adrian grins at that. “A teenager, you mean.”

Maria laughs. “Yes. Your words now, not mine.”

She sighs. “I’m also a little frustrated because. Well. You’ve never told me we met in this time period. I think you were close to, a couple of times, in retrospect. But you never did. You might be the better time-traveller out of the two of us.”

Adrian grins at that. “I try my best.”

“Are you implying that I don’t try?” Maria tries her best to sound angry, but it falls apart quickly.

Adrian grins at her. “I would never.”

Maria smirks. Then perhaps it means she’s just that bad at time-travel that they’ve all taken pity on her and don’t tell her about it. Well, that’s good to know, too. It implies that they care enough about her not to hurt her feelings.

“Have I ever told you about… what happened? Before you showed up?” Adrian asks.

“No, never.” Not now and not in the future. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

Adrian considers her words for a few seconds. “But _can_ I tell you what happened?”

“Of course.” He’s sitting too far away for her to touch him. He’s carrying himself well, but she can tell it’s weighing down on him. She wants to reassure him somehow, but she fails to realise how she can do it. She pulls up her legs onto the couch and turns towards him. Her feet are resting close to his legs, now.

Adrian mirrors her action and pulls up his legs onto the couch as well. Rather than stretching out his legs as Maria has, he crosses them under himself.

He takes a deep breath.

“There were some hunters at my door. I thought I could help them, but they turned on me,” he says. Maria nods. She knows this much from the night he broke down and they all ended up in the same bed, somehow. She wonders why they’re not doing that anymore, but she’s glad that Trevor and Sypha don’t have to deal with her nightmares. Frankly she’s a bit embarrassed by them.

“I uh… We slept together. Then they tried to kill me. It was very confusing.”

“Jesus Christ fuck it all to hell,” Maria curses. _Confusing? Holy shit that’s the understatement of the century._ No wonder he’s been feeling so down. “Are you okay?” 

For a moment Adrian looks distracted, but he nods.

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Maria adds.

“I’m just really glad you’re here and that you told me to tell Trevor and Sypha. I wouldn’t have done that on my own.”

 _Yeah, because you’re an idiot who won’t ask for even the slightest bit of help after a traumatic experience. Jesus Christ, you don’t have to bear it all on your own,_ Maria thinks. She doesn’t say it. She’s told Alucard many times already, and he’s learning it in her time. Or perhaps he’s simply relearning it in her time, she’s certain at least Sypha, if not Trevor also, has been telling him the same thing.

Instead, Maria leans forward and hugs him. It’s a bit uncomfortable from the way they’re sitting, but she can feel Adrian’s hand petting her back.

“You curse like a Belmont,” he says. It sounds like he’s amused.

“I’ve apologized to God many times for it, I think They don’t mind.” She lets go of Adrian and falls back into her seat on the couch.

“Where do you even pick that stuff up? I thought you were royalty,” Adrian says.

“Royalty? What, like you?” Maria asks.

“I’m not—hmmm. I guess strictly speaking I am, I forget sometimes. No, I meant you are aristocracy, at the least. Aren’t you?”

“Maybe so, I don’t remember whether my parents had a title. But after my parents died, Richter Belmont and his wife, Annette, adopted me. He taught me many things.”

“That explains the cursing,” Adrian says dryly. Maria grins. She always assumed it was just part of growing up, but perhaps the people you spend time with have more of an influence on that than time in and of itself.

“They sound like good people,” Adrian adds.

Maria smiles fondly. “They are.”

She misses them dearly. Back home she would visit them at least once a week for dinner. Richter and Annette live in the next town over, but it’s an easy journey on horseback. She can’t remember what life used to be like without them, but now it’s a reality, albeit temporarily.

She’s glad Adrian is here with her, though. She’s never been gone from home for so long on her own, and it’s good to have someone familiar with her. Even in the year she had been searching for Richter Belmont when he went missing, there was always someone she knew at whose house she could stay if she wanted to.

It had taken a year before Shaft had been strong enough to come out into the open to try to resurrect Dracula. What if this time it takes him equally long, or even longer? She isn’t sure she will be able to deal with being here for so long.

“I feel a bit lonely,” Maria confesses. She doesn’t dare to look up, afraid that the admission will be the thing that makes her start to cry.

“It’s silly, isn’t it,” she continues. “Trevor and Sypha are lovely, and I really enjoy talking to you, but I still feel lonely.”

“I don’t think that’s silly at all,” Adrian says. His voice is calm and steady and it’s exactly what Maria wants to hear right now.

“I miss my friends. I want to be with them, but I can’t right now. It’s driving me insane.” Insane is probably not the right word, but it sounds better than just admitting she’s feeling sad.

“It probably doesn’t help that you’re so tired,” Adrian says. Had it been anyone else, she might have gotten mad at the comment. She knows he’s right, though.

“No. It doesn’t help.”

She doesn’t know why he still lets her sleep in his bed, next to him, when she wakes up four times each night, waking him up in the process. It must be exhausting for him, too. On top of that, he barely knows her.

“I feel bad for waking you up every night,” Maria says. “Do you want me to sleep elsewhere?”

“No, please, stay. You don’t have to feel bad about that. I would feel worse if I didn’t wake up.”

Maria swallows hard. If she’s admitting to all these things, she should probably also tell him about the visions. She can’t be mad at him for not asking for help if she won’t ask for help herself.

“The nightmares are getting worse, and…” She pulls her legs towards her and wraps her arms around them. She rests her head on her knees, still unable to look at Adrian. She will definitely cry if she does.

“I keep seeing things. Monsters in the hallways. Shaft’s voice,” she says. There is a lump in her throat. God, she’s tired.

Adrian shifts closer to her and he cards his hand through her hair. It’s calming. “It’s probably still side-effects from the dagger,” he says, trying to comfort her. “But it sounds awful.”

“If Trevor’s right, it’s only three more nights. I can get through that.” Her voice wavers, betrays how her courage falters.

“If anyone can do it, it’s you, Maria.”

-

Maria takes some time to collect her courage again. It doesn’t help that Adrian keeps petting her hair, the gesture is too sweet and makes her want to curl up against him and just cry for days. She keeps telling herself that it’s normal because she is just that tired and the last few weeks have just been a lot to deal with in general, would have been a lot to deal with even without her having been stabbed with the dagger of nightmares.

Eventually the urge to cry passes just enough for her to look up again. Adrian is staring into the distance, thinking about something. _Now is as good a time as any to shift attention away from myself,_ Maria thinks.

“What’s on your mind?” she asks.

“How do you think my father would have handled my mother ageing?”

 _Yet another light subject to breach._ Is he thinking about it because of the painting?

“I don’t know. Why do you ask?”

“Whenever I think of myself having any kind of life with… you, or Sypha and Trevor,” he starts, “I’m just instantly confronted with my own immortality and I wish I could ask my father, but even he is no longer among the living.”

She can see his eyes searching for answers in her face, but there is nothing she can tell him. She doesn’t know, either.

“Would my father have been okay with my mother dying if it would have been of old age? What does it mean for me? How am I supposed to move on from that?”

Maybe it’s because she’s tired, but it’s also genuinely one of the saddest things she’s heard in her life. She can feel the tears coming to her eyes, and this time there is nothing she can do to stop them from coming.

“Why are you crying?” Adrian seems shocked. He scrambles to put his hand on her shoulder, the other hand he uses to wipe away some of her tears.

“Why aren’t you? That’s one of the saddest things I have ever heard anyone say,” Maria says, trying very hard to stop crying. She doesn’t know what to say to him. In her reality, everyone will die at some point, but at least she has the advantage that one day she will join them, in heaven.

“What do you think will happen?” Maria asks, as soon as she has calmed down a bit.

Adrian shakes his head and looks ahead with a sombre expression. “Maybe I will deal with it exactly like my father has.”

It’s unfair. She knows what will happen, how besides himself he will be with grief, how there are things he still won’t talk about. But for his sake she must lie, tell him she doesn’t know what will happen. It’s no good worrying about the future if there is nothing you can do to stop the future from happening.

“Perhaps it is inevitable. Or perhaps you can stave it off for long enough that no-one gets hurt. And it might never happen in the first place,” she says.

“Then perhaps it’s better to just lock myself away in a coffin, sleep until the world needs me again. What’s the point in living now if everyone I love will die anyway?”

Maria grabs a hold of his arm and rests her head against his shoulder. _My sweet, sweet Alucard. I wish I could take away this pain and make you happy, but I don’t know how. I hate to see you so upset but I’m glad you’re talking to me. I love you._

“Because there are people out there who care about you now. Sypha, Trevor. And there will be people in the future who care about you, too. I promise.” 

He doesn’t respond to her. Maria isn’t certain if it’s because he’s thinking about her words or because he’s still going down the sad line of thinking. She hopes it’s the former.

“Life is precious, we should enjoy it as much as we can. For anyone it can be over on any given day. If it all ends in sadness anyway, perhaps it is our duty to find pleasure in the small things in life. Like a pretty flower, or a woman you barely know braiding your hair, or the image of a man you barely know just strapped in a bunch of belts because he couldn’t find his clothes and he’s an idiot just like his great-great-great-grandchild.”

Adrian huffs at that. Good, she’s reaching him, then.

“Are you talking about Trevor? He did mention you had met before, in a dream.”

“Yes. It’s a long story. He looked absolutely ridiculous. Maybe I should gift him a new belt and it’ll jog his memory. That would be a small thing I find joy in.”

“Is that so,” Alucard says. He sounds genuinely amused.

“I just assumed he would have bigger boots when he arrived a week ago,” Maria says.

“Well. You know what they say about men with big boots,” Adrian says dryly.

Maria looks up and lets go of his arm in favour of punching him lightly. “No, I mean it. I just remember him having thigh-high boots in that dream.”

Adrian grins wickedly. “Now that is definitely something I would like to see.”

“I bet you do,” Maria teases. There is a very faint blush on his cheeks and he looks away. She’d much rather have Adrian think of Trevor in thigh-high boots than the depressive conversation they’ve just had.

“I suppose there is one plus-side to meeting you 300 years from now. I’ll finally be older than you.”

Maria punches his shoulder again, this time with a little more force. If he’s teasing her again, he can take it. “If I had known I was the one to start this petty age rivalry that I cannot possibly win, I wouldn’t have started it.”

Adrian smiles a toothy grin at her. His eyes light up when he smiles, and Maria breathes a soft sigh of relief. All she wants is just to see him happy. There was something he had told her some time ago, what was it again? It was when she had been feeling down because of something the village women had said, and it had helped her tremendously. Ah, yes, she remembers.

“I probably shouldn’t do this, but—” Whatever. To hell with time-travel rules. She can just blame it on her own incompetence should Aeon reprimand her for it. “Someone once told me that small acts of kindness are really all we have against the vast darkness of the universe, like stars in the night.”

“When you say you shouldn’t be doing this, I’m assuming that someone was me,” Adrian says. It’s not even a question anymore, just a bold statement. Well, at this point she’ll just let it be.

“Yes, I’m quoting you now,” Maria says.

Adrian shakes his head. “I’ve never said that before. Perhaps I was just quoting you, back then. No, so many years from now. You know what I mean.”

Yeah, it’s a full-blown paradox now. She hopes Aeon can forgive her. “If you will be, then where did the words come from?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps they are words formed in the vast expanse of the universe,” Adrian suggests. 

Maria smiles. “That would be nice. It implies that the universe cares about insignificant beings such as ourselves.”

“You are not insignificant to me, Maria.”

The words disarm her. As she looks at Adrian, she can tell that he is serious.

The way he looks at her almost feels like an invitation. For what, she doesn’t know. She wants to kiss him more than anything in that moment.

She settles on returning the most loving sentiment she has ever heard someone say to her.

“Neither are you, Alucard.”


	15. Much Ado About Nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I got really caught up in another story that I might never even write, but I didn't want to half-ass this chapter because I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for a very long time :D

Very well. It is another set of problems, then, that he has to deal with.

For some reason – and really, whatever reason it is, is beyond him – Sypha and Trevor are definitely flirting with him.

_Hmmmmm._

He has no idea how he’s going to handle this. Sometimes he thinks he’ll just outright tell them both to stop messing around and kiss them right then and there – but then again, in the slight chance they are, in fact, _not_ flirting with him, it seems like a terrible idea to proceed that way.

Then again, assuming they’re really flirting, do they want him with them or is it just a one-night thing? He won’t do it if it’s the latter. Therefore it’s better not to give in.

It seems especially bad since his attempts to flirt with Maria seem to have gone unnoticed by her. She is undeniably his future partner, of that he is certain. She seems to intuitively know so well how to act around him, how to talk to him, how to reach him.

There is no denying that he likes her a lot.

Maybe he should have kissed her the previous day, but again, in the slight chance she is not interested right now, he doesn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.

He’s glad that she falls asleep so quickly every night because he cannot control how his heart beats faster whenever she’s lying next to him. At the same time it pains him that she falls asleep so fast because he dearly loves talking to her when they’re alone. She’s incredibly clever and kind.

He’s definitely infatuated with her, there is no denying that.

He’s also definitely infatuated with Trevor. They have been slowly mapping out a plan on how to strike back at Styria, and the Belmont’s tactical knowledge on how to plan a massive attack like that is certainly impressive. It doesn’t help that Trevor keeps making terrible jokes and that his hands linger close to him for a little too long to be accidental.

He’s certainly also deeply in love with Sypha. Trevor agreed that mobilizing the castle was a definite advantage in crossing Styria’s plans, which is why Alucard has spent most of the day at the sketching table. Sypha’s insights on the half-finished spells and her analysis on the costs and benefits of other augmentations had been incredibly helpful. Her brilliant mind is simply irresistible. That, and the way her eyes light up whenever she gets an idea.

All of them together are like a great big tidal wave that comes crashing into the coast, taking up everything in its path, leaving nothing the way it was. Perhaps that’s for the better. After all, the past still holds its charm but it will never return to him.

The point still stands that he has no idea how to navigate the intricacies of three separate relationships, if they would have him. He loves too fast, too hard. It’s a family trait, and whereas his father had only one person knocking on his door, he now has three at the same time.

Alucard sighs.

It’s probably better to move forward, but he can’t deny that he likes them all fussing over him. He just… needs to decide what to do, what move to make.

On the one hand it’s frustrating to have to decide what to do. There are already so many decisions he has made and will eventually have to make, and they’re weighing on him. He’d much rather they just walked up to him and took control, make the decision for him.

On the other hand, given recent events, he appreciates that they’re not pushing him to do anything he isn’t ready for. He suspected that perhaps Sypha might be impulsive enough to just step in – do something, anything – but she’s been nothing but considerate.

Well. She has been going on about the festival in the nearby village where they apparently all _have_ to go to, to ensure the village is safe from night creatures and the like. Of course an argument could be made that the only creature of the night they would be bringing into town would be Alucard himself, which is the main argument he has for himself for not going to the party.

He doesn’t want to say that humans tend to dislike his company.

It’s not necessarily that he doesn’t want to go – although that is definitely part of it – but watching Sypha try her hardest to convince both him and Trevor every single day for the past week has been fun.

Like Trevor, he has yielded. It’s not like he can deny Sypha anything, anyway. She might be more headstrong than Lisa was, and that’s saying something.

It’s getting late. He should really head to bed. He walks towards the library doors and turns off the lights along the way when he can suddenly hear protests.

“Please don’t turn off the lights!”

It’s Maria. He had no idea she was still there. He quickly pulls the switch back up, and heads back inside.

He finds her lounging on one of the couches near the fireplace. She’s reading a book, but she looks very, very tired.

“What is it, Adrian?” she says, as he approaches her.

“Aren’t you coming to bed?” Alucard asks.

When she looks up from her book she looks weary. “I think I’ve had enough of nightmares. If Trevor is right, it’s only two more days. I think I can sit this one out.”

“Maria…” He can empathise with her, he really, really can. But he also knows that there is no magical cure for her to combat her tiredness. He would much rather she be ready for whatever is coming their way – these things never happen when you have time for them, they will roll over you like a landslide and bury you if you’re not careful. Having a rested sorceress with dragons would really help.

“I’ll be fine, just let me sit here and read.”

In all fairness, given the way she hasn’t been sleeping well for weeks she might just fall asleep trying to stay awake on her own. He would just much rather have her get through the nightmares next to him.

“Sypha would be very upset if you’re not going to the party,” he tries.

Maria sighs. “I am still going to the party tomorrow.”

“Not getting enough sleep can severely impact many different aspects of—”

She slams her book closed and glares at him.

“Don’t lecture me! I didn’t pressure you to come to bed, ever, and you hadn’t slept for weeks. I’ll be fine for a few days.”

“In my defence you didn’t actually know I hadn’t been sleeping for—”

She interrupts him again, this time with more vigour. “That is decidedly _not_ the point you want to be making right now.”

Is she… mad at him? It must be because she’s tired.

Very well, an argument could probably be made that he’s being rude.

“I could always just pick you up and carry you,” he says, trying to lighten the mood. 

“Please don’t.”

He can’t really argue with that. Instead, he sits down next to her.

“Is it that bad today?” he asks.

The anger in her face dissipates. Maria moves closer to him and leans her head on his shoulder. She sighs. She takes hold of his arm with both of her hands.

“It’s not as bad when you’re around.”

Without really thinking about it, he presses a kiss on the crown of her head.

Maria looks up, entirely confused.

Oh. _Oh._ He absolutely hadn’t meant to do it. He had, but he hasn’t thought it through at all. That is to say, he definitely wanted to kiss her, but he definitely didn’t mean to do so unannounced.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” he says, slightly panicked.

_He shouldn’t have done it – shouldn’t have been sleeping in the same bed as her to begin with; definitely shouldn’t have bared his soul to her the previous night; he should have just left her alone and gone to bed a few moments ago—_

“No, no, you’re not making me uncomfortable,” she says.

Maria moves the book she was reading a few moment ago from her lap onto the couch and sits up straight. She presses her body closer to him and touches his cheek with her right hand. Her eyes go from his eyes to his lips and back up to his eyes. He looks down to his own hands, resting in his lap. She slowly intertwines her fingers of her free hand with the fingers of his right hand.

His heart is beating in his throat, fast and loud. When he looks back at her face, she hasn’t moved any closer. What is she waiting for?

“Can I kiss you now?” she asks.

He wants to, so very badly. Tentatively, he places his free hand at her waist and pulls her closer. “Yes,” he breathes.

She presses her forehead to his very gently and closes her eyes as he closes his eyes, too. He can feel her breath on his cheeks, her nose softly bumping into his. Her face is warm and soft.

She breaks the contact between their heads temporarily, but when she touches him again he can feel the softest of lips brushing against his own. It is a chaste touch, almost as if she’s still unsure of her welcome, but she is so, so very welcome.

He locks his lips with hers with a little more force than he intended to, but he desperately wants her to know that yes, he wants her, too. Maria’s lips curl into a smile as she breathes into him. Her tongue is slowly, softly slipping into his mouth, twisting and curling gently as Alucard mirrors her movements.

Far too soon she retreats, leaves one final trace on his lips as she moves away. Alucard opens his eyes to see her blushing, hears her heart beating rapidly. From the warmth in his chest and on his cheeks he knows he’s blushing, too. She extends her hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind his ear.

Her smile is radiant, filling the room. Alucard takes a deep breath and pulls her closer to him. She rests her head against his chest as Alucard caresses her hair.

They remain there for a moment. Alucard closes his eyes, steadies his breathing. She is stroking her fingers up and down his free hand in calm and soothing motions. This is good.

 _She_ is good.

“Now will you please come to bed,” Alucard asks, voice barely a whisper.

Maria chuckles softly. “I will,” she says.

_Oh. Oh no. That’s not—he didn’t mean to imply—_

“To sleep, if my intentions were unclear.”

Maria lifts up her head and looks him in the eyes. Her eyes hold no accusation as she looks at him lovingly. “No, your intentions were clear. I’ll be right there.”

-

The next day goes by in a blur. It’s the day of the village feast, and Sypha will not have anyone looking less than their best. Alucard has decided it’s best to just let it come over him. He’s found that having a secret – the kiss he shared with Maria – makes a day of boring preparations that much more exciting.

Whenever he catches Maria staring at him, she smiles and blushes and suddenly gets very preoccupied with helping Sypha as best as she can with whatever it is she’s doing.

He doesn’t mind being bossed around by Sypha, and clearly neither does Trevor. Whenever he gets grumpy she will look at him with those big blue eyes of hers, and Trevor will sigh and do whatever it is she has thought of now. As he watches the scene repeat over and over again during the day, he catches himself thinking that he loves them both very much.

When the night falls, they head to the village. Maria and Sypha are wearing their new dresses, traditional dresses of the area. They have opted for the white underskirts with blue covers, with red flowers covering the hems. Sypha has braided an intricate hairpiece on Maria’s head and she has added several flowers to be trapped in the braids and ribbons that are holding the entire piece together. Sypha is wearing a headband with a singular flower in it. They both look absolutely stunning.

Trevor and he have opted for a far more plain outfit. They are both very tall and will stand out regardless, best not to draw more attention than they need to. Still, it is hard to avoid looking at Trevor. He’s dressed in black pants with a white, loose shirt that he’s borrowed from Alucard. It looks good on him. It’s missing his family crest, although that’s probably for the better considering the village they’re headed to. He’s wearing a red shawl wrapped around his waist to keep the outfit together.

Since they’re headed to the village at nightfall, Alucard has refrained from covering his entire body as he usually would, although he has made it a point to keep his hair loose in order to cover his ears. He, too, is wearing a white shirt and black pants. It’s nothing special really, but he really prefers it that way. Sypha seemed happy enough, though, so that’s all that really matters. It’s her party, after all.

-

Nobody really notices when they arrive at the village. The fires are already burning, consumption of alcohol has commenced probably long before the party has even started, and in the town square the children are already dancing.

Maria and Sypha disappear pretty much as soon as they arrive. Sypha has made it very clear she wants to dance, and so far only Maria has responded enthusiastically to that. Alucard suspects Trevor might be roped into dancing with her when he has consumed a considerable amount of alcohol.

So far, though, Trevor seems content to just stand with him, at the edge of the party, watchful for the possibility of a threat. Alucard can see how Trevor looks around the town square, his eyes lingering on Sypha for a moment before finding all possible routes of escape. Alucard has already located the path towards the graveyard, curiously decorated with small lanterns as if to invite the souls of the dead to come out and celebrate with them.

But the dead are quiet. There is no threat at the moment.

Alucard allows himself to relax as he leans against the wall of one of the houses at the edge of the market square. He grins quietly to himself. Right before they left and Sypha and Trevor went to get the horses, Maria kissed him again. He likes the way she looks at him right before she does. There’s something mischievous about it, as if they’re not allowed to do it and her parents can walk in at any given moment, ready to chase him off for stealing a kiss from their wonderful daughter.

“There, there. Too many people, huh? That’s okay, you can come sit with us.”

As Alucard looks to his left, he can see Trevor bend over to pet a stray cat that’s taken to silently rubbing against his boots. It meows loudly when Trevor finally picks it up from the ground.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, you just want to get on with your life. Just let me scratch you for a little while.”

The cat surrenders to its fate and bumps its head against Trevor’s. Trevor scratches the cat on its head and turns towards Alucard. He offers up the cat for Alucard to pet it, but Alucard just glares at him menacingly.

It’s not that he doesn’t like cats, but they’re just always infested with fleas. His mother had a thing or two to say against fleas, called them carriers for diseases. His father just associated them with peasants in general.

“What, don’t tell me you don’t like cats,” Trevor says.

“I don’t care much for them, no,” Alucard says, a look of faint disgust marking his face.

“Try to say that to her face. I dare you,” Trevor says, hugging the cat closer and cooing it like one would a fussy baby.

“You’ll get fleas, Belmont.”

“Then I’ll just have to spend more time in those lavish baths of yours,” Trevor says, as he continues to bump his head into the cat as a sign of brotherly affection.

Well. Alucard certainly wouldn’t mind that. “Hmmm, by all means then, get those fleas.”

Trevor offers up the cat to Alucard once more. Something about the way Trevor looks at him makes Alucard give in as he extends his hand towards the cat. It purrs and butts its head against the newly offered hand. Reluctantly, Alucard scratches the cat behind its ears.

Trevor strokes the cat a few more times before he puts her down on the street again. It meows once more before it runs back into the night.

Trevor sighs as he watches the cat go. He leans back against the wall and crosses his arms over his chest as he turns his gaze towards the fire. His smile turns grim.

“Something on your mind?” Alucard asks.

“These are the same people who came after my family. Look at them. The ones who burned down my house are probably around there somewhere. And they’re just dancing around the fire. They just forgot all about it.”

Ah. He doesn’t really know how to respond to that. Alucard places a hand on his shoulder. It’s what Trevor always does to him.

“I’m glad you came here anyway,” Alucard says.

Trevor waves his hand at the comment as if it’s nothing. “Yeah, yeah. Not like I can refuse Sypha when she’s got an idea. I’m just happy to see her happy again.”

“Was she really that bad?” Alucard asks.

Trevor nods. “Yeah. I hate that I dragged her down like that.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Isn’t it? It’s my life we’ve been living.”

Alucard looks at him briefly. “If everyone including you tells me bad shit just happens sometimes, you better try to believe in that yourself too.”

Trevor shrugs. “Hmmmm. I’ll consider it.”

A silence falls between them as they’re staring at the bonfires. The song ends, people shuffle around and switch dance partners or head over to the bar to get another drink. The musicians change position, too. The mandolins take a place at the front, count down, and start the next song.

By the gods, he knows that song. His mother has been whistling it, dancing to it with him. As much as he hates the politics of dancing at vampire courts, this is a song he likes.

“God I know that song. My grandmother taught me to dance to it,” Trevor says.

“Really?” He shouldn’t be so surprised. If all the townspeople seem to know it, then surely there is a chance they know it, too. “My mother taught me, too.”

Trevor grins. “It’s one of the better ones, though. With the jumping and stuff. I hated the dances she put me through for noble courts. I mean, what’s the point anyway? We were excommunicated. Nobody even invited us.”

Alucard laughs. “You have no idea of the rules and pleasantries that are exchanged in vampire courts. It’s exhausting. And then the dancing hasn’t even started yet.”

“Really? Vampires like to dance?” Trevor asks.

Alucard shrugs. “They have to do something to spend the time. I could do without the stuck up nobility, though.”

“Yeah. But to be fair, aren’t you like the most royal of royalty?” Trevor asks. Alucard frowns at him. He didn’t think it mattered. “I mean no offence, I’m just curious,” he asks.

“Definitely used to be part of that,” he admits. “I’m not so certain where I stand now, what, with me having killed my father.”

“Hmmmm.” Trevor says. His brow furrows. “Could you challenge Carmilla for, I dunno, the supreme rule of all vampires?”

Alucard shakes his head. “I could, but I would have to watch my back every step of the way, and then some.” He pauses. He can tell that Trevor is still considering it as an option for dealing with the Styria problem. “I would also have to act like a proper vampire,” he adds.

“Ah,” Trevor says, nodding understandingly. “Better not, then. Come join us, human outcasts. We’d be happy to have you.”

Alucard makes a face of faint disgust. “I think I would rather create a category for only myself, thank you very much. Next thing you know I’ll get fleas.”

“Hey!” Trevor punches him in the shoulder. “Fuckers suck the blood right out from under your skin, you sure you aren’t related?”

That’s uncalled for. Alucard finds his brain has ran away with him and he cannot think of a fitting reply, so he says: “Fuck you.”

Trevor raises his middle finger at him whilst sporting a shit-eating grin. Alucard would very much like to wipe it off of his face.

“Hey, unrelated, but uh I think they’re looking at us funny, we’re the only ones not dancing,” Trevor says. He points in the general direction of the bonfires and dancing people.

Contrary to Trevor’s belief, nobody is actually looking at them.

“Are you saying you _want_ to dance, Belmont?” he asks.

“I’m not drunk enough to dance,” Trevor jokes. “You should get me a drink, first.”

_Wait. No, he wasn’t asking for a dance._

Alucard feels his cheeks get warmer and is very glad that it’s dark. “Get your own drink.”

“Too much effort, it’s on the other side of the square,” Trevor argues. “Can’t you do your shifty thing?”

Alucard huffs, unimpressed. “Pretty sure that’s a quick way to get kicked out.”

“Ah, yes. Pity,” Trevor says.

As Alucard looks back at Trevor, he notices that the man is blatantly staring at him. There is a short silence between them.

Trevor licks his lips and takes a deep breath.

“We could just kiss.”

If there is anything Alucard had not been expecting to hear that night, that would be it. He blinks a few times and stares at Trevor. Needless to say, he is incredibly confused. Didn’t he just compare him to a flea? No, he must have misheard him. After all, he has been yearning after the man for a while now.

“What?” is all that Alucard manages to say.

“I mean, if you want to,” Trevor says.

Alucard half expects Trevor to start laughing any minute now, but he can hear his heartbeat loud and clear and when he looks at the man he seems nervous.

“What about Sypha?” Alucard asks.

“Well, she should probably tell you herself, but eh—” Trevor is stumbling through his words. “I just— ugh, fuck it. I really, really like you, and I thought you might… feel the same way, too.”

Alucard is speechless for a moment. Well, yes, he absolutely feels the same way, too. He’s still very confused to hear Trevor confirm his suspicions. Sypha, on the other hand, from her he would have expected to hear something tonight if either of them was every going to tell him.

“You don’t— ah, forget I said anything,” Trevor says. He scratches the back of his head as he walks a few paces away in embarrassment.

He needs to act, and he needs to do it quickly. He grabs a hold of Trevor’s hand and gently pulls him back.

“Wait,” Alucard says. Trevor seems surprised, his eyes move from his hand to Alucard’s eyes. Alucard looks at the people, who have just ended another dance and are starting to make their way towards the stands with drinks again. He doesn’t necessarily care about what people think of him, but he would still prefer some privacy.

“Not here,” Alucard says.

He can see Trevor’s expression become more relaxed as he understands what Alucard is saying. Trevor steps closer to Alucard, as they walk into the darkness of the nearby alley.

When they are far away enough from the fires, Trevor stops him and leans his back against the wall.

“This is good, yeah?” Trevor’s eyes flick back and forth between his and instantly his heart starts beating faster.

“Yes,” Alucard says. For as far as he can tell, they’re definitely hidden from all the partygoers.

“Your eyes are like, really pretty in the dark,” Trevor says. He lets go of his hand in favour of pulling Alucard closer by his shirt’s lapels. Alucard feels a warm blush creeping up his neck. He thinks back to Trevor as he was cutting wood in the sunlight. He looks amazing, scars and all.

“You, too,” Alucard mutters. “I mean, your scars.” No, that’s not what he means. “I meant your body.” No, that’s also not what he was trying to say.

Trevor starts laughing. His laugh is like his voice, deep and warm. As he laughs, he traces across Alucard’s arms and guides his hands towards his own waist.

“Hmmm. You, too,” Trevor says, teasingly.

Alucard huffs indignantly, but he can appreciate Trevor’s attempt at humour. If he’s ever going to shut him up, it’s going to be in a kiss.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Alucard says.

“Hmmmm.” Trevor moves his hands back to the lapels on his shirt and pulls him closer. Alucard angles his face slightly as he presses his body closer to Trevor. Trevor pulls him in and kisses him.

His lips are rough, but the kiss is soft. He can feel Trevor’s tongue tracing over his teeth before he pushes in further, feels it dancing gently around his own tongue. He can hear a low rumble of appreciation escape Trevor’s chest as Alucard moves his hands slowly up to cup Trevor’s face.

He can feel Trevor’s scruff against his own chin, rough and tickling. One of Trevor’s hands moves down his shirt, to his waist, whilst his other hand tenderly caresses his hair. Alucard kisses him back hungrily, he didn’t even know he wanted to be as close to Trevor as he is right now.

As Trevor retreats, he bites gently at Alucard’s lip and sucks at it briefly. Alucard lets out a soft moan at the playful roughness. He vaguely wonders if this is an invitation from Trevor to bite him back. He should ask, but perhaps that’s a matter for another time.

When he looks at Trevor again, he can see that he is blushing. Trevor sighs and looks at him with bright eyes.

“You mind just, ah, doing that again,” Trevor asks. Alucard laughs breathily as he brushes his fingers along the line of Trevor’s jaw.

“I wouldn’t mind at all.”

-

It doesn’t take long for them to find Sypha and Maria again as they emerge from the alleyway – they practically bump into them as they try to get a number of drinks.

“Where have you been?” Sypha asks. “We couldn’t find you anywhere!”

Alucard freezes in his tracks. He hasn’t thought of how he’s going to tell Sypha, let alone Maria that he’s just _kissed Trevor Belmont._

“I thought I heard something, so I went to check it out. Alucard helped,” Trevor lies with remarkable ease.

“And did you find anything?” Sypha asks.

Trevor laughs. “A cat, some fleas and Alucard. Nothing to be afraid of,” he says.

-

They stay for a little while longer, but soon the musicians are left too drunk to play, and Sypha takes that as their cue to leave. She seems fully satisfied with the way the party went, and on the way back she talks about all the people she’s danced with whilst she expertly untangles Maria’s braids. 

Alucard knows he should talk to her. And to Maria. But he’s sitting at the front of the carriage next to Trevor Belmont who sends him knowing smiles every once in a while and it makes his heart melt. Everything and everyone else will just have to wait a moment.

As soon as they arrive back at the castle, Alucard offers to take care of the horses whilst the rest of them get inside. Especially Maria seems happy to let someone else do the last chores of the day, as she heads to bed. She looks tired, but happy.

Sypha disappears into the kitchen to make herself a midnight snack. Trevor heads towards his and Sypha’s room, supposedly to go to bed, too.

Alucard takes his time to care for the horses. They have served them well for weeks on end, and it is bad manners to keep them bathing in sweat in the cold night air. It gives him time to think, too. Not that it’s any help, really. When he thinks of Maria’s kisses, he smiles and can’t think straight. When he thinks of Trevor kissing him, most of his coherent thoughts disappear right through the stables’ windows. When he thinks of what Trevor told him about Sypha, he can barely focus on what he’s doing. The only logical conclusion is that there isn’t room for him to think about anything other than the task at hand, which needs to be done well. The horses deserve it.

When he finishes taking care of the horses, he enters the castle and closes the heavy doors behind him. It has become a ritual to him, closing the doors at the end of the day. One last look at the moon and the stars that keep watch over the fields, right before he heads to bed. The bedroom where the ghosts of the past have stopped plaguing him. It is good to acknowledge when bad times pass.

The lights are still on in the kitchen. That’s strange. He’s fairly certain that Sypha knows how to operate the light switch by now. He decides to check it out before he goes to bed.

He finds Sypha still in the kitchen. He isn’t sure why, but she’s sitting on the kitchen counter, drinking herbal tea. It smells really nice.

“It took a while for the water to boil,” she explains.

Alucard nods. For a moment he hesitates. Should he tell her now that he’s kissed Trevor, that Trevor said that he should definitely talk to her, too? It seems so… forced. He’s fairly certain he can catch her at a better time. She must be tired now, from all the dancing.

“Hey Alucard, you have something on your lips,” Sypha says. She motions him to come closer.

“Really?” Alucard asks. He rubs at his lips. He didn’t see anything when he walked past the mirror in the hallway. That’s a little bit embarrassing.

As he stands near Sypha, he allows her to touch his face and fix it for him. She doesn’t fix anything, but she grins.

“Yeah. My lips,” she says.

_Wait, what?_

It takes him a good few moments to understand what she means. Sypha waits a moment for him to pull away, but as he doesn’t, she moves closer and gives him a quick peck and grins.

It’s all very confusing.

Alucard starts to laugh. _Well. That settles that._

He moves closer to her, plants his hands firmly on the counter on either side of her legs, and kisses her back.

Sypha wraps her arms around his neck and giggles softly as she kisses back. He can taste the faint taste of honey on her tongue. Her lips are full and soft and wet and warm. Their lips slide over each other smoothly as he breathes in the floral scent of her freshly washed hair. Sypha always smells of flowers.

As they break the kiss, she grins at him smugly. Alucard just laughs at her. 

“I don’t know what’s going on. Did you orchestrate this? Because I just kissed Maria and Trevor, too.”

Sypha pouts. “I can’t believe I’m the last one to kiss you,” she says.

Alucard laughs again. If that’s her reaction, he has nothing to worry about.

“You can be the first one to kiss me three times,” Alucard offers. Sypha’s eyes smile brightly as she accepts. 

-

Maria is already close to falling asleep as Alucard finally rests his head on the pillow again. She moves closer to him and rests a singular hand on his chest as she keeps breathing lightly. 

“You know, I was thinking,” she says sleepily. “You should just kiss Sypha and Trevor already. I’m sure they’d be up for it. Not because I’m a time-traveller, mind you. That’s secret knowledge. But just. Because.”

If there is a thing such as karma in this world, he is clearly collecting on all of it tonight.

“Maria… I kissed Trevor and Sypha. This night,” he says.

Maria finds his face with her hand and gives him two small pats on his cheek. “That’s great, Adrian.”

“Really,” he says. “You’re not just saying this because you’re already asleep,” he asks.

Maria moves her hand back down to his chest and sighs contently.

“No, it’s good. Now I don’t have to worry about leaving you alone when I go home,” she says.

That’s one way to look at it, he supposes.

“I worry about you sometimes, you know,” she continues. He’s fairly certain she is actually falling asleep as she says the words.

Alucard presses a kiss on her forehead.

“Don’t worry about me, Maria.”

“Good night, Alucard.”


	16. Last Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just... gonna actively make Sypha the avatar,, if that's okay........

It takes Sypha a while to wake up in the morning. She isn’t used to walking long days anymore, and dancing through the night is definitely not one of those things that doesn’t have consequences on her body. Still, the ache in her muscles means nothing compared to the sheer amount of joy she is feeling.

She’s kissed Alucard.

Alucard wants to be with them.

All the threats in the world can come her way, so long as she also gets to have this.

That being said, now’s not the time to stay in bed for long. If Maria and Trevor are both already awake – and judging by the empty other half of the bed at least Trevor is up already – they are more likely to be catching up on kissing Alucard than she is at the moment, and she doesn’t want to be left out.

Sypha pulls herself together and places both her feet one by one on the cold stone floor. She shivers, but she supposes there is no reason to complain. After all, this is exactly what it feels like to wake up in the cold winter months when she’s on the road. However, the castle has something the open road doesn’t have: a nice, warm bath.

She has, of course, seen bathhouses in the East with a similar heating system, but she’d never imagined she’d get to experience such a luxury in her daily life. The warmth will most certainly ease the soreness of her muscles, and then the joy that she is feeling will have the added bonus of being pain free.

She decides kissing Alucard can wait a little longer as she heads for the castle’s enormous baths.

-

When she finally enters the kitchen, she realises she was right. Both Trevor and Maria are already up and are sitting at the table whilst Alucard is cooking God knows what. It smells good, though. It always smells good.

She’s not bad at cooking, herself, but the things Alucard can do simply boggle her mind. To her own credit, she tends to make do with whatever they can get, whereas Alucard has a pantry full of spices and herbs she’s never even heard of.

Perhaps he’d be willing to teach her. Just the thought of it is enough to make her smile. Nothing as fun as purposefully standing in his way whenever he needs something – think of the sheer number of kisses she can ask of him that way!

“You seem rather cheerful today,” Trevor remarks. As if he isn’t stupidly smiling, too.

“ _I_ took a bath,” Sypha says. “Something _you_ should consider doing, too, one of these days.”

Trevor frowns at her. “Hey! I took a bath a few days ago, give me a break.”

She will, most definitely, not give him a break. “Yes and after that you’ve spent how many hours doing manual labour under a hot sun?”

Trevor huffs at her. “If it bothers you so much, maybe you should help me out.”

Sypha snorts. That is not the direction she saw this conversation go, but it’s not unwelcome.

“Oh, I will,” she parries. She can see Trevor smirk at her. He will most definitely remind her of it very soon, she’s sure.

Over at the counter, she can hear Alucard sigh loudly. “Please. It’s not even noon yet. Can you at least _pretend_ like you’re not going to defile my father’s baths.”

“Not a chance.” Trevor smirks at Alucard, but since Alucard hasn’t even looked up from his work, the effect is somewhat lost.

Sypha shifts her attention to the other presence in the kitchen.

“How are you doing today, Maria?” Sypha asks.

Maria looks so very, very tired, but at least last night it seemed like she was enjoying herself. It must be rough, not sleeping well for nights on end. Even Lindenfeld hasn’t affected Sypha to that degree, and seeing Maria like this is making her feel very grateful for that.

“It’s the last day today, isn’t it?” Trevor asks.

Maria nods slowly and manages to put on a momentary smile. Dear God, the woman has sacrificed so much, has travelled through time to keep the world from collapsing into chaos and has gotten no other reward for it than horrible nightmares, and still she’s practically radiating light. Quite literally, today. There are three small orbs of a blueish green light circling her head.

 _It must be because she’s so tired_ , Sypha thinks. She’s pretty sure it’s happened to her by accident, too, when she was a child and didn’t quite know how to control her magic yet.

“The scar is no longer black. I’m going to sleep so well tonight.” Maria sighs and rubs at her eyes.

Trevor walks over to Alucard and ruffles Maria’s hair as he walks by her. He doesn’t seem to notice the orbs surrounding her head, and Sypha almost wants to tell him to be careful not to touch them, but nothing happens. Sypha decides that it’s probably best to leave Maria be, considering the state she’s in. In her own experience, they’ll fade back into her magic pool sooner or later, no harm done either way.

“You know what, that calls for a celebration,” Trevor says warmly.

“What, the party yesterday wasn’t enough for you?” Sypha asks, amused. Trevor shrugs.

“It was, but I didn’t get to dance with Alucard yet. He says he’s good at it.”

Alucard drops the fork he’d been using to press tiny holes in the dough he’s been kneading. Sypha can see a faint blush creep up his cheeks. _Oh, but that’s really cute._

“I did not say that,” Alucard says.

“Yes you did!”

“I did not.”

“Well okay, but you _implied_ it.” Trevor is standing close to Alucard now, leaning into his space nonchalantly. He takes Alucard’s hand and uses it to make a really slow twirl, as if he’s dancing.

“I… did?” Alucard looks confused, but he’s smiling.

“Or maybe I just heard it,” Trevor says.

Alucard takes his hand back, now thoroughly amused, and gets back to preparing whatever it is he’s making as if nothing’s happened. It’s clear to Sypha, even from where she’s sitting, that he’s having a hard time ignoring Trevor, who is right up in his personal space, smirking mischievously.

For a moment Sypha worries that this is making Maria uncomfortable, but she’s just sitting at the head of the table, sipping her tea quietly. If she is uncomfortable, she doesn’t show it. She does, however, look a bit pale and sickly. 

Trevor grabs three small buns of bread and places one on the plate in front of Maria, throws one towards Sypha, which she catches expertly if she may say so herself, and starts eating the last one himself. Maria looks up in confusion, but smiles as Trevor grins at her.

It is entirely possible she completely missed everything that has just happened.

Sypha takes a bite of her bun and lets out an appreciative hum. It tastes amazing. “If I could just eat this for brunch for the rest of my life, I would die a happy woman.”

Instead of responding to her compliment, Alucard sighs. He places an intricately braided doughy substance in the oven. “Don’t call it that, you’ll only encourage him.” He sounds exasperated.

Trevor just grins stupidly, unable to speak because he somehow thought it was a good idea to what, swallow the bun in its entirety? It sure seems that way.

Alucard walks over to Maria and he touches her shoulder for a moment. Maria looks up at him and smiles.

“I feel a bit… cold,” Maria says.

“The castle has plenty of hot water. If you don’t want to sleep, you could take a shower,” Alucard offers.

Maria nods. As her head moves, the three faint lights around her bounce along. _If she were still wearing the flowers in her braided hair from the night before, she would look like an angel_ , Sypha thinks.

She has the sudden urge to go with her, there’s just the faintest feeling in the air that something is amiss. There’s something hypnotizing about the way the lights move around her head.

Right as Sypha thinks it, the feeling fades.

Maria gets up, touches Alucard’s hand lightly, and excuses herself.

-

The morning passes quickly. There wasn’t much morning left to begin with, but Alucard has been adamant they fix the mechanism that moves the castle as quickly as they can. It really is their best bet if they want to stop Styria from taking over the country – being able to move quickly would be highly advantageous.

Sypha tries to help him as well as she can, but the type of magic that he uses is unfamiliar to her and takes some time getting used to. Alucard tells her what he knows, and she tries to understand it well enough to help look for further information in the extensive list of books Alucard has drawn up.

Only twice does Trevor tease her with the fact that she was the one who broke the mechanism. She would tell him to stop, but Alucard laughs at the joke and she decides she can let it go for today.

Trevor has been in and out of the kitchen with maps and rolls of paper and is planning… something. She’s not quite sure what – sometimes it seems related to Styria, and other times it seems that he is actually planning out a party for the next day, and even later than that he comes back from the library with some of the books that Alucard needs but hasn’t been able to get yet.

It all feels very domestic. She can understand why people would want to settle down with the people they love.

When the clock strikes four times, Alucard looks up. He moves so abruptly that he immediately has her attention. A disoriented look paints his face.

“Where is Maria?” he asks.

Sypha looks around the kitchen and is surprised to find that Maria hasn’t returned from her shower. Well, she did look a little sickly.

“She looked very tired, perhaps she has gone back to bed,” she suggests. 

“No, I don’t think so,” Trevor says, not even looking up from the long list he is making. “Last night of nightmares, remember? The day hasn’t ended yet.”

“Something is wrong,” Alucard says. There is an urgency in his voice that makes Sypha stand up. Now that he says it, she can feel it, too.

_Shit, she has felt it before, this morning. She should have listened to her feelings and gone with Maria—_

“Easy there, she’s just… doing something for herself, probably.” Trevor has heard the urgency in Alucard’s voice, too, and has placed a hand on his shoulder.

Alucard shakes his head. “No, something feels very, very off.”

“I feel it, too, Trevor,” Sypha says. She swallows. _This is just like Lindenfeld—they thought they were prepared, but they were too late. If only she had gone with Maria this morning—_

“Well, okay. Just… Stay calm. What does it feel like? For those of us who aren’t magically gifted,” Trevor says. He sounds serious, he’s never one to question her feelings and she’s so very grateful for that. _She should have told him about Maria, he would have told her to go with her—_

Alucard’s eyes widen, shine a dangerous shade of yellow, right before he buries his head in his hands. He curses in a language she doesn’t recognise, but it’s clear that he curses.

“When you were stabbed by that dagger,” he asks, now looking up at Trevor, “did you also hallucinate during the day?”

Trevor frowns. “No, I don’t think so. Why?”

“Maria told me she… saw things. I just assumed it was part of the deal with that dagger,” Alucard says slowly.

“Why do you think it matters?” Sypha asks. It was a pretty bad wound, especially compared to Trevor’s wound, judging by the size of his scar. It might just be that the poison or magic was better able to poison her mind, simply because the wound was more severe.

“Maria has said that the necromancer was an expert at _illusions_ , and that he has taken her, _specifically her_ , before.”

-

It’s not looking good for them. They’ve searched the castle and its grounds twice, Alucard has written Maria’s name on the glass of the distance mirror, but there is no sign of Maria anywhere and even the mirror shows them nothing. Sypha is definitely worried now, and from the way Trevor paces around the kitchen, he is, too.

“I want to check the village,” Trevor says. “The cemetery. First place a necromancer would go, right? Maybe he’s taken Maria there.”

“I will search the castle once more, she can’t have disappeared without a trace,” Alucard says. 

“No, that is a bad idea,” Sypha interjects. Both men turn their attention to her now.

“Think about it. If it is the Dark Priest, I am best qualified to fight him, magic against magic. You two should go to the village together, look out for each other.”

“I’m not leaving you alone, if it is the necromancer, I want _you_ to stay together,” Trevor says. He sounds worried, almost angry.

Sypha sighs. She understands how he feels, but she knows that she is right. “Trevor, I sensed something was wrong this morning already, and I dismissed it. You, on the other hand, didn’t see a thing, and neither did Alucard. If Maria is still in the castle, I’m your best bet.”

“Something was wrong this morning?” Alucard asks. He sounds hurt, confused.

“Alucard, I’m sorry. I wish I would have gone with her but I didn’t think much of it.” Sypha is talking quickly now. If it is the necromancer, it is important that they check out the village as soon as possible in order to prevent another Lindenfeld. “Something was wrong with her magic. The energy was circling around her head, it looked… green, maybe blue.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing before,” Alucard says. “What does it mean?”

“I don’t know.” It pains her to admit that. She’s so used to having the answers when it comes to human magic, but she genuinely doesn’t know what to think. “I thought it was because she was tired, we sometimes see it with speaker children who don’t know how to control their magic yet, but I’m starting to think it was more than that. I had the strangest feeling, and I still can’t quite place it.”

“We should head to the village quickly, then,” Trevor says, vaguely gesturing to both himself and Alucard.

“Night will be upon us soon,” Alucard says hesitantly, clearly still conflicted about the best course of action. Then the look in his eyes becomes more determined. “I shall show you how to use the distance mirror. If there is the slightest hint of trouble, you see Maria _once_ , you inform us immediately.”

-

As soon as Trevor and Alucard have left, Sypha returns to the kitchen. She has an idea.

It’s been a while, but when she was younger she was usually the one to figure out the best way to travel. She could extend her will to see the path before them, find out possible threats or closed off roads, and so advice the elders of her train what road would be the safest to travel.

She sits up on the kitchen table in a cross-legged position. She folds her hands in her lap the way her grandmother has taught her, and closes her eyes.

She extends her will first to the rooms she knows, she lets her consciousness wander through the hallways, lets the energy flow from one room to the next. Then she goes further, up into the towers, down into the lowest dungeons. She passes broken walls, broken wine bottles, passages that she’s certain she hasn’t seen before. There are terrifying artworks in hallways that have never seen the light of day, and statues of fallen angels shrouded by fallen curtains of windows that let in the light of a setting sun. The castle must have been magnificent, once, in times long past. Now it is empty, apart from the few beacons of light created by the people who inhabit it.

She finds nothing.

Maria isn’t there. There isn’t a trace from her energy, either. It’s like she’s just vanished into thin air, or got swallowed by the dark, something evil that won’t let her light shine through.

Sypha recalls her energy back to the kitchen. Once she feels the familiar glow of energy surrounding her, she opens her eyes.

The kitchen is dark, night has fallen.

She takes a few moments to collect herself, before she gets up and summons a tiny flame in her hand. She illuminates her way towards the light switch and pulls the handle. Nothing happens.

She pulls the switch once more, but there is no light.

Well. She can’t begin to pretend she understands the lightning, or electricity as Maria calls it, but she’s pretty sure that that’s not supposed to happen. It’s not a good sign.

There is, however, still light coming from the main hall that leads to the entrance. Her best course of action seems to be to check that, doing anything would be better than staying where she is right now, since there is only one way out from the kitchen.

She walks through the dark hallway, past the throne in the middle of the staircase, towards the heavy doors. As soon as she gets close to the doors, they make a rattling noise, and a few moments later they close, right as she’s standing in front of them.

Sypha’s definitely on her guard now. She pulls the handle, but only as a formality. She knows she can’t open the doors on physical strength alone, but now she knows they won’t budge for her magic, either. Something very dark and very powerful is keeping them closed.

It’s looking increasingly bad for her.

She’s locked in. She can’t get out.

_Whatever happens, I will not allow fear to cloud my mind._

Something is stirring behind the massive throne. Sypha turns around slowly, flame in hand. She decides that, whatever it is, it’s best to face it head on. She must make for the mirror. She’s strong, she can hold out for a while in this suddenly very creepy castle, but she will need Trevor and Alucard before long.

A silhouette appears from behind the throne. Sypha braces herself for a fight, but relaxes when she sees it’s Maria.

“Maria!” she calls out. “Where the hell have you been? We were worried!”

Maria comes closer and looks directly at her with eyes that light up in the dark. Something is very wrong. Maria’s eyes glow red. The three blueish-green orbs dance around her head dangerously, emitting some kind of low sound, strange enough to give her a small headache.

“Come closer, Sypha. I want to embrace you.”

Her voice sounds distorted, wrung out. It’s not Maria’s voice.

Behind her, three pieces of enchanted armour appear. Sypha can sense they are no longer loyal to her, their magic is twisted and dark.

“Maria. This isn’t you. You must fight this,” Sypha says.

She doesn’t want to harm her, but she will if she must.

Maria smiles wickedly at her, then gestures with her hand. The pieces of enchanted armour pass her, are heading down the stairs as Maria disappears back into the dark hallway, away from the castle entrance.

Sypha cracks her fingers. She has a plan. This is nothing she hasn’t dealt with before, at least she doesn’t have to fight Maria. Not yet, in any case. She’s going to make for the mirror, contact Trevor and Alucard, and destroy these twisted pieces of enchanted armour. In a way, she’ll be doing Alucard a favour, he meant to get rid of them anyway, didn’t he? She’ll gladly do it for him. 

She releases her flame to the surroundings, it spreads into many smaller flames and finds candles on the walls. At least now the area will be well-lit, and she can actually see what’s happening.

The pieces of enchanted armour charge at her, and she calls upon her ice powers. She makes a long spear with a sharp point and throws it at her closest attacker.

The spear pierces right through the breastplate, bringing the armour down, pinning it to the ground. It isn’t completely incapacitated, but it will give her time to focus on only two attackers at the same time.

The other two armours have gotten closer, and she barely manages to dodge the sword of her nearest attacker as it tries to cut her. She rolls to the side, gets up, and runs a bit further down the room to create some space between her and the pieces of enchanted armour.

She calls for another sheet of ice and sharpens the edges with surgical precision. The two pieces of armour that are still standing are now coming at her from different angles. Perfect.

She runs towards the unfortunate enchanted armour closest to her and in one fluid movement slices the sheet of ice clean through it one, two, three times.

As she passes it, it falls into pieces, its head rolling after her. The magic that was once occupying the vessel is gone now.

Sypha grins, stares at the only piece of enchanted armour still standing. Unfortunately, it is not created to feel any fear, even when it is so clearly outmatched. It charges towards her at a terrifying speed, but Sypha knows exactly what to do with this one.

She’s learned something from watching Trevor fight with his whip. She calls water to her in both her hands, changes the form of it into two long strings and she freezes the ends. As soon as the armour is within reach of her water whips, she captures both of its arms with her water, and pulls it apart. The rest of the armour falls down into pieces. It, too, is now nothing more than a broken, empty husk.

Sypha runs towards the stairs. She must get to the mirror, contact Trevor and Alucard. The first piece of armour she incapacitated moves slightly, and with a quick slash of ice she decapitates it. She grabs its helmet as she makes for the mirror.

Alucard has left his own name on the mirror, it follows him. She has no time to analyse what’s happening with him and Trevor, she can hear something else stirring in the hallway. She writes a quick note, attaches it to the helmet and throws it into the mirror.

Then she runs out of the room and makes herself scarce. She must keep moving, it is the best way to keep on living in this cursed castle.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no, it's all falling apart!!! *bloody tears starts playing in the background*
> 
> I really wanted to post this chapter earlier, as with many of the previous chapters, but life is just really weird right now. At least I now know exactly what I want to do for the rest of the story, so that makes it easier for me to write, but I can't promise any sort of schedule, I'm sorry! Thank you for your patience <3


End file.
